Penang Hospital houseman dies after ‘fall’ from building

GEORGE TOWN – A houseman attached to Penang Hospital died recently after he apparently fell from an office building along Jalan Datuk Keramat here.

Northeast district police head Soffian Santong confirmed the case, saying that the initial investigation centred on sudden death.

Contacted by The Vibes, he did not rule out the possibility of the case being reclassified if fresh evidence comes to light.

The houseman, whose name has been withheld due to a request from his parents, was posted to the hospital just three weeks before his sudden demise here.

This is believed to be the second death to involve a junior doctor in the span of two years.

In December 2020, The Vibes reported that another doctor who had resigned from the same hospital had died suddenly.

The incident triggered an outcry among his colleagues, who wanted the authorities to seriously look into the matter instead of dismissing it as a “common” issue.

Several doctors, who preferred to remain anonymous, said bullying in the medical fraternity is a pervasive problem.

Meanwhile, former Batu Uban assemblyman Dr T. Jayabalan today called on the Health Ministry to commence an investigation into why young doctors are dying suddenly.

Many people in the medical fraternity told The Vibes that housemen in Penang Hospital undergo tough working conditions due to demands not only from patients but also fellow doctors.

Treatment meted on them by some seniors, both medical officers (MO) and specialists, makes their experience worse.

There are claims that housemen put in up to 16 to 17 hours of work as part of the process to prepare them for the noble profession.

A senior doctor who declined to be named said that the training regimen may cause some housemen to be distressed because they must undergo strict observation as it is a matter of life and death when patients undergo treatment there.

“As a MO or a specialist, one must impart knowledge to the trainee doctors. We should not complain that the housemen have no knowledge and should not resort to shouting in front of others and insulting them with vulgarities.”

“The MOs and the specialists also claim that they themselves have undergone such treatment and it is common for the housemen to undergo such harsh training before they can qualify as a MO,” the doctor said.

A mother from Kedah, whose son is a houseman at Penang Hospital, said that it was frustrating to see her son undergoing harsher-than-usual training.

The family had spent up to RM400,000 to send her son to an overseas university to become a doctor.

She said her son has in many instances wanted to quit, as everyday he comes back home depressed and demotivated due to the pressure.

Penang Hospital director Datuk Dr Teo Gim Sian was unavailable for comment.

Veteran unionist N. Balakrishnan, 72, said the Employment Act 1955 and international labour laws specify that an employee should only work for eight hours daily.

“How could housemen work for 16 hours and more for two years?” he said.

“The ministry must not ignore the physical and mental health of the housemen. I don’t know whether the housemen are permitted to work long hours under the Medical Profession Act,” he said. – The Vibes, May 3, 2022

Additional reporting by Ian McIntyre