WITH the death of a junior doctor at Penang Hospital triggering public outcry and calls for the Health Ministry (MOH) to act against toxic work environment, the latter’s top official weighed upon the matter and said bullying should never be tolerated.
“Bullying culture is wrong and cannot be tolerated anywhere, especially in hospitals. We are awaiting for the police investigation to conclude and the post-mortem report including the chemistry results,” said MOH director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a tweet.
Noor Hisham’s statement triggered public discussion on the “open secret” which was long known by many in the medical fraternity and even the public, with many coming out to share their plight.
(Hi Datuk. My younger brother got bullied at the MOH during his pharmacy training and he even had to repeat his training due to the bully. He had to request the Public Service Department (PSD) to transfer to another health facility, waited for one year and has now completed his training. Is there a statute of limitation on reporting such matters?)
(Plus, another brother of mine, a doctor, was bullied by a nurse. She used to scream and intimidate him when he was assisting his patients. What was the action taken? She was only advised against it. Can I report this too?)
User Nadia added:
Two days ago, the Penang Health Department announced a junior doctor “fell” to death soon after arriving in Penang Hospital on April 4.
“This case is now under investigation by the police who have ordered for a post-mortem to be conducted,” state health director Dr Ma’arof Sudin was reported saying in a statement.
This is the second death involving junior doctors from the same hospital. In December 2020, a junior doctor resigned and died soon after.
Yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that his ministry had formed a task force to investigate the matter, adding it would also cover the culture of bullying, which housemen and junior doctors have alleged.
On that note, user Nizam Hanif opined that bullying at the medical fraternity could be due to the fact while there are great doctors in the ministry, they are not necessarily good administrators.
However, other users were less diplomatic towards Noor Hisham and lashed out at him for allegedly not taking action on such cases earlier.
You kept mum all this while
“Unfortunately Mr DG sir, throughout your administration, you have turned a blind eye to the hardship faced by the junior doctors. As a top management, you should be held responsible for the incidents that have happened. No point learning surgical skills overseas without some ethic.”
Netizen Abi retorted: “What?? As though this is news? It’s been going on for years in front of your eyes!” – May 7, 2022
