Dzul: HoD will be suspended

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Minister has refuted claims that the ministry will carry out en masse transfer of all the staff from the orthopaedic department where the department head was accused of sexual harassment.

Instead, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said they were working towards a suspension of the head of department (HoD).

He said the ministry could not transfer anyone out of the department because the relevant authorities had to first act on the findings.

He said the en masse transfer order was false and any announcement made from the ministry should be from him, his deputy or the Health director-general.

In fact, he assured that the ministry was working towards a temporary suspension of the HoD.

“We want him to get out of the hospital.

“When he comes back from medical leave, he will be transferred out,” he told The Star.

“The accused is on medical leave until Sept 18.”

Staff members at the department also confirmed the HoD in question had not been seen at the hospital since news of the sexual harassment broke.

The Star yesterday carried a front page report about specialists who said that they had received telephone calls from an official that all the staff in the orthopaedic department would be transferred.

While there was also news that it was put on hold, staff members were worried whether they would be transferred for no fault of theirs.

In July, The Star carried an exclusive report about house officers who alleged that they were bullied and sexually harassed by the HoD in a hospital in the Klang Valley and despite complaints and police reports made against him, they claimed that no action was taken against him.

In response to the article, Dr Dzulkefly asked victims to e-mail him directly, and a committee comprising representatives from both the Health and the Women, Family and Community Development ministries was set up to look into the matter.

On a letter dated Sept 3 stating the cancellation of the transfer of the department head to Putrajaya and that he remained as the orthopaedic specialist at the hospital has been floated in social media, Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry was working towards cancelling the said letter.

“He will be called back to the Health Ministry in Putrajaya when he is back from his medical leave,” he said.

The letter, which was sighted by The Star, said his transfer to the Health Ministry’s office in Putrajaya to do administrative work at the management services division was cancelled.

According to the letter, the Health Ministry issued the earlier written instruction for the doctor to be transferred to Putrajaya on Aug 30.

Asked whether there was sabotage against the ministry’s efforts to address the issue, Dr Dzulkefly said: “There is no truth about the sabotage. They will be in for trouble if they ever try to do that.”

He acknowledged that there was a “toxic work culture” because of the issue and the ministry wanted to dismantle it and get to “the bottom of it”.

In a statement issued as an immediate response to The Star’s report, he said the independent inquiry body probing the sexual harassment cases in a Klang Valley hospital had recommended for the doctor implicated to be suspended to facilitate further investigations.

He confirmed that the independent inquiry body had presented its findings to him, Deputy Women, Family and Community Develop-ment Minister Hannah Yeoh and Health Ministry top officials.

“The findings revealed that there were enough grounds for the Health Ministry to proceed with further action against the HoD,” Dr Dzulkefly said.

He said the HoD would be suspended in line with the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993.

It was also recommended that a report be lodged with the Malay-sian Medical Council to investigate the HoD for professional misconduct under the Medical Act 1971, he said.

Many had lauded the move, with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also retweeting Dr Dzulkefly’s statement.