Slap doctor suspended for one year
THE eye specia list at Rata na k k ir i Referra l Hospita l who insulted and slapped a 56-yea r-old dea f, bl i nd and mute Kreung indigenous woma n has been suspended for a yea r wit hout pay.
Sepa rately, a dent ist at Phnom Pen h’s K h mer-Sov iet Fr iend sh ip Hospita l has been suspended without supplementa l benef its for si x months for charging patients for his ser v ices.
The Ministr y of Health additiona lly punished Nob Yum follow ing internal discipline from her institution after t he f urore over t he Ratanak kiri incident that saw her dubbed “t he unethica l nurse”.
Dentist Kr uy Pherea k’s conduct was described by the Khmer-Sov iet Friendship Hospital’s director as “in contrast to professiona l et hics”.
Pherea k was suspended for si x months without supplemental pay by Dr Ng y Meng, the director of the Khmer-Sov iet Friendship Hospita l af ter its disciplinar y council found him g ui lt y of unprofessiona l conduct by charging patients.
Phereak’s actions were considered “in contrast to t he hospita l’s interna l reg u lat ions a nd professiona l et hics, wit h such unprofessiona l conduct highly impacting the care of patients”, Dr Meng said in a letter dated July 23 and seen by The Post on Thursday.
Healt h Minister Mam Bun Heng suspended Yum, who worked at the Rata na k k ir i Refer ra l Hospita l’s eye depa r t ment, wit hout sa la r y f rom T hu r s day u nt i l t o Ju l y 31 nex t yea r.
A letter from t he healt h minister
obtained by The Post on Thursday said Yum must reapply for her position two months before the end of her suspension.
“If the deadline is passed and she does not reapply for her job, it is considered that she has abandoned it,” Bun Heng said.
After the incident on July 23, in which female Kreung indigenous patient Pas Peal was slapped and insulted, the public dubbed Yum “the unethical nurse”.
Facebook user “For Cambodian People” said Peal, who is deaf, blind and mute, needed eye surgery. When her children took her to the Ratanakkiri Referral Hospital’s eye department they encountered Yum, who they said treated them rudely and unprofessionally.
“For Ca mbodia n People” sa id “unet hica l nurse” Yum was “t iny a nd t h i n, but ver y i nsolent. She insulted t he patient and her et hnic minorit y, ca lling t hem stupid. She slapped the patient in the face and dragged her by the legs as if she were dragging logs.”
Many other patients claimed she had regularly used violence and insulted patients, and had done so for some time, the Facebook user said.
However, Yum said her actions had been misunderstood. She said while explaining the medical procedure to the patient, she had made her sit properly by pulling her legs straight.
She said she then she tapped the patient on the jaw with her hand as a way to tell her to hold her head straight before instructing her to read the eye chart.
“I am aware that my activities may have caused confusion for the patient and her children. The misunderstanding and confusion came from the body language I used. This made them think I slapped the patient, but this is not true,” Yum was quoted as saying by the Khmer Note website.