University hospital to probe ‘mistreatment’ of housemen

An anonymous letter says off-days were frozen at University Malaya Medical Centre but a houseman there said she was not aware of such a policy.

PETALING JAYA: University Malaya Medical Centre says it is investigating claims of mistreatment among housemen at the hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) department.

The hospital was responding to FMT’s queries about an anonymous letter that listed complaints such as long hours, frozen off-days, and alleged that there was bullying and abuse by nurses.

“The UMMC management is investigating the matter. In addition, we ask the complainant to report to the corporate communications department for us to take further action,” said its acting director Iskandar Ahmad.

The anonymous letter, sent to FMT, was from a complainant using the pseudonym “Burnt Out Doctor”, who is said to be undergoing housemanship at the hospital. FMT is seeking confirmation of the complainant’s identity.

A houseman in the department contacted by FMT confirmed that the complaints of long working hours and strict rules were accurate.

She said there was a lack of communication between medical officers and housemen, which often led to scoldings “even for a tiny mistake.”

However, apart from being occasionally told off, the houseman added that she had not personally experienced any form of bullying from the doctors or nurses in the department.

She also said she had not heard anything about the frozen off-day policy.

The letter said that house officers are entitled to one compulsory day off, under health ministry rules. “However, for the past month, we have been denied our compulsory off days in the O&G department,” the letter said. “We have been doing double night shifts per week and working longer hours per day for quite some time. We are not able to request for any leave.”

The letter also claimed they were forced to work without breaks, and that the cold temperatures in the department made it difficult to complete the job.

“Many of us housemen will cling onto the baby incubators just to keep our hands warm. Those housemen who are in other wards will still have to carry out their chores with frozen fingers for over 12 hours straight.”

The letter also gave detailed allegations of abuse of power by nurses in the department, claiming the housemen were forced to take stool samples and search for patient files while the nurses “sat around and talked to each other.”

It added that a number of housemen have resigned and are facing several mental health problems.

The letter called for action to be taken against the bullying, and urged the health ministry to look into the matter.

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