Address bullying of junior doctors, govt told after houseman’s death

 

The houseman had fallen to his death just three weeks after being posted at the Penang Hospital.

GEORGE TOWN: The government has been urged to address the issues faced by junior doctors including being bullied and overworked.

In separate statements, Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy and state health committee chairman Norlela Ariffin spoke on the plight of the junior doctors in the wake of the death of a houseman at the Penang Hospital recently.

The houseman had fallen to his death just three weeks after being posted at the hospital. In December 2020, a trainee doctor there also fell to his death —three weeks after quitting his job.

Ramasamy said he has heard many stories about how trainee doctors are bullied in public hospitals.

“Is the health ministry so preoccupied with containing Covid-19, that everything else has been forgotten or swept under the carpet?

“It is an utter shame the government hospitals are not addressing the nefarious practice of bullying in the workplace, be it trainee doctors or any staff. The death of one doctor is one too many,” the state human resources committee chairman said.

Ramasamy said police should not classify cases related to housemen immediately as sudden death but probe for underlying reasons that caused the deaths.

Norlela meanwhile claimed that a family member who was a houseman once got into 27 car accidents due to fatigue from working long hours.

“The response I get from the health ministry, including politicians, is that all doctors have to go through this. It is like an accepted culture in the medical profession,” she said.

Norlela compared the experience of her daughter-in-law, who was a doctor at a hospital in the UK, which she said has a more “humane” work-life balance compared to Malaysia.

She said the health ministry had said the overwork issue was due to a lack of staffing as many medical graduates have yet to be appointed as housemen.

“It does not make sense for the health ministry to delay their appointments when doctors make life and death decisions in treating patients while being subject to horrid work conditions,” she said. - FMT