Overworked, Bullied and Burnt-Out!

Severely overworked, bullied and burnt out – that’s the plight of Malaysian doctors leaving the industry. The Health Ministry seems oblivious or in suspended animation.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) conducted a survey that showed about 30% to 40% of doctors have experienced some form of bullying in their career. A total of 728 Malaysian doctors from the public and private healthcare sector participated in the survey, of which 476 were medical officers, 207 specialists/consultants and 46 were house officers.

More distressing is that the government noted that there had been an increase in resignation involving Malaysian contract doctors. Health Ministry (“MOH”) data showed that the trend was rising consistently every year with 168 contract doctors leaving the service in 2018, 475 in 2019, 511 in 2020, 768 in 2021 and 1,354 in 2022.

Source: the Star

A total of 253 bullying cases were reported in the MMA survey, with almost 200 of them not revealing which states they were from. It showed that Sabah and Melaka had no confirmed cases of bullying, with only 15 respondents identifying that they were from Sarawak, nine from Selangor and eight from Perak.

According to the survey, 50% of specialists/consultants and house officers as well as 168 medical officers said they experienced bullying on the job.

The survey also found that most Malaysian doctors were overworked, with junior doctors the most affected. According to the survey, about 60% of junior doctors with less than two years’ experience worked overtime daily and 20% of those with over two years’ experience worked overtime every day. Another 30% to 40% still work overtime at least three times a week. As for the frequency of Malaysian doctors working overtime, 35% of doctors work overtime once to twice a week, 32% work overtime three to four times per week, 24% every day and 9% never do.

We invest in our doctors – whether government sponsored or by way of private initiative – then after graduation they are no longer required or employed as temporary, contract workers with no future. Then we create a toxic environment so that some may leave the country or profession. Then we ask why. Next we form a committee and study the issue and produce a comprehensive report and file it for posterity – that’s probably what the MOH plans to do!

Reference:

Healthcare sector in dire straits, Tarrence Tan and Ragananthini Vethasalam, The Star, 16 October 2023-10-23