The three major issues pushing doctors to leave the public health service are subtle discrimination; salary schemes, grades, and contract duration; and remuneration.
Health care leaders have failed to develop a work culture that promotes a safe and quality ambience for training and learning, essential to the delivery of quality health care.
Senior doctors (senior house officers or medical officers) order junior doctors around to do favours for them, be it patient-related or personal. The newbies don’t dare to say no.
Khairy Jamaluddin says some specialists have been accused of bullying housemen, but they’re working as usual pending investigations as it’s not easy to transfer specialists.
During my housemanship at Sultanah Aminah Johor Bahru Hospital in the 1980s, a specialist used to abuse us HOs verbally, kick us, and throw case notes and scream profanities at us in front of patients and nurses.
Penang exco Dr Norlela Ariffin says a doctor told her: “Senior doctors have to stop talking about their ‘old days’”, while Melaka exco Dr Akmal Saleh threatens action against doctors who bully others.
Contrary to what many think, MOH takes prevention of workplace bullying very seriously. There are sufficient organisational structures to deal with bullying at the hospital level.
Dr Kelvin Yii tells Penang Hospital management to take responsibility for the junior doctor's death and for MOH to address toxic workplace environments among health care workers.