Driven by despair
Contract doctors pushed to the edge by poor conditions and unfair treatment
PETALING JAYA: Contract doctors are already up to their necks in the Covid-19 war. They are constantly at risk of being infected, they get little rest and some have not seen their loved ones for months.
Yet, if one of them is unfortunate enough to test positive for Covid-19, he gets a reprimand rather than sympathy.
Such conditions, a contract doctor told theSun, forced him to throw in the towel last month.
“I have lost my job, and my future is now uncertain. My investments in time and money to get where I am have likely gone to waste. Ironically, it has come as a relief,” said the doctor, who declined to reveal his name.
As far as he is concerned, there is no longer light at the end of the tunnel.
The now former medical officer (MO) feels that walking out has been the best decision he has ever made.
“Serving so many patients and having to deal with all the red tape at the hospital at the same time have taken a toll on my health,” he said.
To be fair, it must be stated that the same conditions are present at all government hospitals designated for the care of Covid-19 patients.
But for the ex-MO, being overworked is nothing new. “We expect to get burned out, but the uncertainty of our future after having spent more than four years in a contract position is not worth it,” he said.
“Being poorly treated by the hospital management has made it worse,” he added.
The ex-MO said another factor that helped to reaffirm his decision to quit was what he termed as “unfair treatment” of a colleague. “He tested positive for Covid-19 and was reprimanded by the hospital management,” he said.
“Despite observing the SOP (standard operating procedures) diligently, we are more vulnerable than others given that we take care of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 every day. It is unfair that we get reprimanded for getting infected,” he added.
In a July 16 tweet, Dr Shazwan Sazali, another MO who works at the emergency department of a government hospital, recounted his experience when dealing with a patient whom he eventually lost.
“She was quite stable when she came in but her X-Ray showed symptoms of Covid-19, so we gave her an RTK test,” he said.
While waiting for the test result, her oxygen level dropped from 95% to 85%. She remained lucid but Shazwan knew she needed a bed and oxygen immediately.
Unfortunately, neither was immediately available, and nothing the doctor did could save her life. “I felt so guilty but I understand that there was nothing I could have done,” Shazwan said.
Since January, a total of 400 contract doctors have resigned, mostly because they were frustrated with conditions in the healthcare system, said Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr M. Subramaniam.
HartalDoktorKontrak, a movement to fight for the rights of contract doctors, recently tweeted the screenshot of a text message saying that action could be taken against house officers if they tested positive for Covid-19.
“They use house officers to manage Covid19 patients, but when they are infected, they end up facing disciplinary action,” the movement said.
In another tweet, HartalDoktorKontrak said nearly 10% of all contract doctors at a district hospital quit last week, leaving those who have chosen to stay to cover for them.
Also posted was a copy of the resignation letter giving a 24-hour notice of an MO in Hospital Sik in Kedah.
In the letter, the MO singled out depression caused by the overwhelming number of Covid19 patients, “which is beyond any human capability to care for”, as his reason for quitting.
The MO also felt that he had been denied his rights as a civil servant simply because of his contract status although he carried the same workload as an officer with a permanent status.