Perak Health Committee chairperson A Sivanesan has called on the Health Ministry to not jump the gun in its investigation into alleged sexual harassment by a doctor at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital.
Sivaneesan said since the letter containing the allegations is anonymous, it is unknown if there is even a victim.
“To me, the anonymous letter is (just) an accusation. A legal defamation because until now we do not know who the complainant is. Is there (even) a victim?” he said in a press conference, in Tapah, Perak today.
“My stand on this matter, since it started, until now, is they should stop the investigation. The benefit of the doubt goes to the complainer. We don’t know if it (the complainer) is real or not,” he added,” he also said.
He said this when asked to comment on the Health Ministry’s decision to investigate allegations that a senior doctor at the Ipoh hospital was sexually harassing and intimidating his junior staff.
Pushing out specialists
Commenting further, Sivanesan said unless there are complaints regarding the services provided by public doctors, they should be protected and that investigating them based on anonymous allegations was unreasonable.
“They worked hard day and night. Is this how we repay them?” he asked.
He also expressed concern that this might push doctors out of public service, citing recent statistics from Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad who said that 50 percent of specialists have left the ministry.
He added if junior staff at the hospital had any problems, they could lodge an official report to start an investigation since there is a complainant, unlike the anonymous letter.
However, Sivanesan stressed that he was not against the Health Ministry.
Earlier this month, copies of an anonymous letter sent to the Ipoh hospital management were found at the facility’s carpark.
The letter alleged that a senior doctor at the hospital has been accused of sexually harassing and intimidating his junior staff.
When the matter went viral, the Health Ministry responded by launching an investigation into the matter.
Perak Health Department director Dr Feisul Idzwan Mustapha said the investigation will be led by an independent committee whose members include officers appointed by the Health Ministry deputy director-general (medical).
On Monday, police confirmed that the case is being investigated after a male doctor from the hospital had lodged the report over the anonymous letter.
The case is investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code for defamation and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities or network service. - Mkini
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