KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has been urged to take a firm stance on bullying complaints involving several doctors at a government hospital in Sabah.
The Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) movement described the allegations as serious and called for immediate, uncompromising action should the claims be verified.
A spokesperson for HDK said that all complaints must be handled confidentially and that no retaliatory action should be taken against the whistleblowers by hospital management.
"We often hear of bullying incidents within the ministry, and in 2022, similar cases prompted the establishment of a task force to investigate and address the issue. However, the problem has persisted and worsened," said the spokesperson.
Earlier, BH revealed that several doctors had suffered verbal and physical abuse at a hospital, facing profanities, racial slurs, and even threats with sharp objects for not following orders.
Some were publicly humiliated in front of patients by specialist doctors, who belittle their professional skills.
Following these revelations, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) urged the Health Ministry to form an independent committee to conduct an external audit of the bullying allegations and irregular procedures carried out on patients by a unit head at the hospital in Sabah.
HDK said that thorough investigations and decisive action against the bullies were crucial to prevent them from acting with impunity.
The movement also called for the consistent implementation of the recommendations from the previous task force, which was established following the death of a houseman at Penang General Hospital in 2022.
When asked if a new task force was necessary for the Sabah case, HDK said the current task force should be sufficient for the ministry to conduct its investigations.