Sabah public hospital's medical officers accused of racism, bullying

Summary

• Medical officers at Hospital Queen Elizabeth are accused of bullying house officers and racist conduct.

• This includes pressuring sick juniors to work, forcing them to work past midnight, discussing the skin colour of a junior, and others.

• Health Ministry says the issue is under investigation, urges relevant parties to lodge official reports to assist with probe.

Two medical officers at Hospital Queen Elizabeth (HQE) in Sabah have been accused of bullying and racism against house officers, in a social media post that has since gone viral. 

When contacted, the Health Ministry said the issue is referred to the Integrity Unit for investigation, and urges relevant parties to lodge official reports on the issue in the MyHelp system to assist in investigations.

“Bullying in any form or context has no place at the Health Ministry. There is zero tolerance towards bullying as it goes against our aim to create a safe and just work culture for all. 

“Stringent actions, including disciplinary measures, will be taken against offenders if found guilty,” the ministry said in a statement. 

The post, made by the Instagram account @mydoctortoday two days ago, showed three screenshots of text conversations alleged to be between two medical officers at HQE.

In one instance, one of the alleged medical officers said they had made a house officer work until she cried.

“After that (the house officer) still sucks. So same only. (Name redacted) treated them very good, also no use. So might as well treat them bad (sic),” the alleged medical officer allegedly said in the WhatsApp conversation. 

In another screenshot, it was implied that the alleged medical officers were being racist by discussing the skin colour of an allegedly incompetent house officer.

When one medical officer shared an emoji of a dark-skinned man in a turban, the other medical officer replied: “Yes, same colour.”

The WhatsApp conversation seemed to have been captured on a computer through the WhatsApp web desktop application.

As of 4pm today, the post has attracted over 1,000 likes, 32 comments, and was shared over 1,300 times.

It was also claimed in the caption of the post that the medical officers had bullied house officers of a specific ethnicity by making them work past midnight while letting the others off. 

“Toxic culture and racism of Health Ministry still exists until the 21st century,” the Instagram account moderator wrote. 

‘Take a paracetamol and come to work’

A separate screenshot also alleged that house officers were told to report for work even if granted medical leave for running a fever.

“Just a simple fever without any source is not a reason for MC (sic). You can take paracetamol and come to work,” the medical officer allegedly said, referring to the high workload in wards. 

“Pity your medical officer who is going to jaga (look after the ward) alone. Be considerate. If (you’re) really sick, it warrants an MC. If not please be mindful,” the screenshot read.

The Instagram account, which refers to itself as a Junior Doctors Network, has more than 2,000 followers and describes itself as a “platform for sharing latest news and events among Malaysia's doctors”.

The account also named the two medical officers. However, Malaysiakini is withholding their identities pending their response.

Malaysiakini has also contacted Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad, Sabah Health director Dr Maria Suleiman and HQE director Dr William Gotulis for comment. 

Previous cases

On Aug 29 last year, the death of a pathology specialist Dr Tay Tien Yaa in Lahad Datu, Sabah, who purportedly committed suicide due to bullying by her department head, went viral on social media.

This was revealed by the victim’s younger sibling, who claimed that her sister was subjected to mistreatment and faced immense pressure from the workload in the unit.

However, the independent inquiry investigating the death found that her death did not involve bullying or excessive workload.

The inquiry chairperson Borhan Dolah said that claims of the deceased being pressured, oppressed, or bullied by her department head were baseless.

Upon the announcement of the inquiry, Dzulkefly promised his ministry would take prompt action based on the findings and said they have identified actions related to human resources to tackle workload issues, among other things.

According to Dzulkefly, the ministry will strive to implement measures to improve the working environment for medical staff.

Bullying still rampant

In 2023, findings from a survey on Malaysian doctors conducted by the Malaysian Medical Association’s (MMA) section concerning house officers, medical officers, and specialists and its junior doctor network further confirm that bullying and harassment in healthcare facilities is prevalent and widespread.

The article written by then MMA president Azizan Abdul Aziz found that 30 to 40 per cent of doctors across the nation reported having experienced some form of bullying.

The survey also found that victims tend not to file a complaint out of fear or are unsure how. Even when they did, no action was taken.

A total of 253 cases of bullying were reported in the survey with the highest reported in Sarawak (15), Selangor (nine), and Perak (eight).

However, 197 cases were from unknown states. Sabah and Malacca have no confirmed cases of bullying according to the survey.

Bullying also affects doctors in all ranks with 168 medical officers affected while 50 percent of house officers and specialists reported the same.

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