360-evaluation system in the works to stop toxic culture

PUTRAJAYA: In a move to stop bullying and toxic work culture within the Health Ministry, government hospital directors will soon have their performance evaluated by their peers and subordinates, said minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Currently, he said, the ministry’s “360-evaluation” system only covers the top management, in which hospital directors are only assessed by their superiors.

“This is subject to the approval of the Public Service Department (PSD), although I feel there would not be any issue with it.

“We want to expand our 360-evaluation system so that it covers all levels in the ministry.

“So these hospital directors are not just assessed by their bosses, but also by their peers and those working under them.

“This will help us detect cases of bullying. If there are top-level officers who do not have good relationships with their subordinates, we can find out through the 360-evaluation system,” he said during a special media interview in conjunction with his one-year anniversary of helming the Health Ministry.

Khairy said the evaluation system will be expanded gradually until even heads of departments and specialists will be subject to peer assessment.

This was one of the recommendations made by the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force, which was set up in May following complaints of toxic work culture and bullying of junior doctors at government hospitals, he said.

Starting Oct 1, Khairy said a dedicated complaint line called “MyHelp@KKM” will be open for medical staff to lodge reports against bullying incidents in the workplace.

“Before this, there was no clear mechanism for junior medical officers to complain about workplace bullying.

“This dedicated complaint line will make it easier for them to lodge reports against bullying incidents or anything related to the toxic work culture.

“We will be able to take immediate action more transparently. The privacy of the person who lodges the report is also guaranteed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Khairy said the ministry was able to resolve several contract appointment issues involving medical, dental, and pharmacy officers in the last year.

“At least 8,686 additional permanent posts involving medical officers, dental officers, and pharmacy officers will be created from 2022 to 2025, involving financial implications worth RM2.26bil,” he said.

He also announced that for permanent appointments in the ministry, a total of 11,462 appointments have been made since last September, which included 4,333 medical officers; 1,457 dental officers; 1,688 pharmacy officers; and 3,087 nurses.

As of Aug 31, he said a total of 7,143 medical, dental, and pharmacy officers were promoted on a time-based method.