State health director concerned about violence against health personnel at work
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded 16 cases of violence against health personnel last year.
According to state health director Dr Jamilah Hashim, the cases involved physical harassment, sexual harassment and verbal violence.
“Health personnel face a lot of risks when working which include physical, verbal, sexual or even oral abuse.
“Even health personnel accused of not doing their jobs are being viralled on social media by people, which is considered as a form of violence - oral violence.
“So I hope this programme will help raise awareness of violence faced by health personnel while working,” she said in her text of speech which was read by her deputy for oral health Dr Yaw Siew Lian during the department’s state-level Occupational Safety and Health Week launching ceremony yesterday.
Most of the abuses came from patients or their families who accused health personnel of not doing their jobs well, she said.
Dr Jamilah regarded such treatment as unfair as health personnel were not given the chance to defend themselves and some of the cases were made-up stories.
“I would like to point out that the Health Department is looking seriously into this matter (violence towards health personnel).
“Like any organisation, the Health Department is responsible to ensuring the safety, health and welfare of health personnel in the country,” she said.
She also revealed that the Health Department came up with guidelines on how to prevent and handle violence last year.
Among the other initiatives, she added, was to launch training module on handling violence at all the department’s facilities and cooperation with the police.
The theme for the Occupational Safety and Health Week this year is ‘Stop the Violence, Break the Silence’.
Some health personnel received awards for Occupational Safety and Health during the ceremony which was held at the Youth and Sports Complex Auditorium here.