Task force should also look into 2020 houseman death: ex-Penang rep

GEORGE TOWN – The government’s Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force to investigate the bullying of housemen must also investigate the death of a houseman who died in December 2020.

Former Batu Uban assemblyman Datuk Dr T. Jayabalan said the special task force should also include the 2020 case, as investigators could unearth more findings in relation to the bullying and racism of housemen by medical officers (MOs), specialists and consultants at Penang Hospital.

“In the December 2020 incident the Penang Hospital director and the state Health Department has conveniently washed their hands by saying that the victim, a houseman, had quit his job three weeks before committing suicide. 

“The hospital director kept it as a shield by saying that the victim quit his job three weeks before his death and she did not check or investigate to establish what led him to resign from his job.

“Why didn’t the department conduct a thorough investigation to establish the truth and find out what led the houseman to quit his job?” he asked.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had last week announced the setting up of a special task force to investigate bullying and racism against housemen by MOs, specialists and consultants at Penang Hospital, following the suicide of a houseman working there on April 17, who fell to his death from a residential block at Jalan Dato Keramat here.

Dr Jayabalan said comments and statements in the media by medical experts will divert the issue.

The core issue is to find out if there were wrongdoings through investigations into the allegations, he added.

“We could have saved the life of the victim who died in April 17, if we have addressed the issue in the December 2020 case. This is the consequences as we failed to attend and address the problem there and then,” he added. 

The former PKR lawmaker said the fundamental issue is training junior doctors in a conducive environment where the skills and knowledge of senior doctors, specialists and consultants can be imparted to them in a positive manner.

He decried the “shouting and yelling” in front of patients, which is also stressful towards those seeking medical assistance.

“The primary objective of the doctors is to reduce morbidity and mortality and the MOs, specialists and consultants should create a workplace culture by observing all norms, which will give junior doctors the confidence to attend the patient properly when he or she is alone (without supervision).

“So, it is the system, workplace culture and observing the norms to impart the skill and knowledge of the MOs, specialists and the consultants while creating a conducive working environment for the junior doctors,” he added.

The Malaysian Human Rights Commission had recently announced that it will conduct a probe into the violation of junior doctors’ human rights at government hospitals across the country.

The investigations will be carried out to establish the bullying allegations that led to the suicide.

The Vibes had on May 3 reported that a 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.

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.

He was found dead in a room at his house, and he was believed to have consumed poison to take his life.

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. – The Vibes, May 15, 2022