MoH must address issues facing housemen, welfare of doctors

The Ministry of Health (MoH) needs to look into all contributing factors to address issues faced by housemen in their training and also the welfare of doctors in the public healthcare system, says Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai.

He said the association hoped that the task force set up by MoH to look into the culture of bullying would also look into the welfare of all doctors in the ecosystem; that bullying affects everyone and not just the trainees, he said in a statement yesterday.

“This isn’t just about housemen alone but about the huge mental burden placed on the shoulders of all the doctors.

“We can talk about providing world class healthcare to the masses, but we have to take care of the healthcare providers first so that they will be able to care for the patients,” he said.

Dr Koh hoped that the task force would be able to recognise that a single major contributor to the current problem if more medical graduates are being put in the system every year.

“Market forces will soon come into play whereby there will be a decline in applicants to medical schools, but something needs to be done and the time is now. As it is, we are already facing a runaway train in our efforts to manage the large number of young medical graduates in the system.

“MMA is glad the media coverage on this issue has created an impetus to understand the ills of the system and hopefully to be able to see a much needed rectification,” he said.

Dr Koh added that with everyone looking at incidences of bullying in the healthcare sector, particularly among the junior doctors, there is a need also to define what is bullying.

“From what I have been reading in the media reports, bullying can mean anything from the use of harsh words or foul language to being asked to do an errand by someone more senior. My concern is that even instructions related to work, if deemed unacceptable to a junior doctor, can even be construed as ‘bullying’.

“If there is outright bullying; obvious misuse of power done to create physical, social or even mental harm, MMA will not condone it. Such abuse has no place in our healthcare system, be it affecting junior or senior doctors. It has to be reported and action taken to prevent recurrence.

“MMA will assist doctors who come up to us for help, especially if it involves bullying,” he said.

He added there is a need to find the real cause of bullying, and also to look at the whole make-up of the healthcare fraternity and understand why there is a high level of stress among the doctors, especially in recent years.

“The Ministry of Health has set up a system whereby there are senior clinicians given the task of looking after the welfare of the trainee doctors, and has also put in place a system whereby trainee doctors could bring up grouses and complaints which will then be looked into.

“However, this will only be effective if every department uses the system to ensure there is no fear or favour to the handling of issues,” he said.