THE Health Ministry is investigating another case of a medical practitioner’s death at Hospital Seberang Jaya, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said an internal investigation into the case was carried out immediately after the ministry received a complaint about the incident.
He also did not rule out the possibility of setting up an independent committee to thoroughly examine the case before further action is taken.
“I am aware that some parties claim the ministry is slow in taking action to curb bullying cases involving medical practitioners but the ministry has been conducting internal probes the moment we receive complaints, just as we did in 2018,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Kuala Langat).
The 2018 case Dzulkefly was referring to was over the dismissal of a department head at a Health Ministry-run hospital in the Klang Valley after the doctor was found to have bullied another doctor.
Dzulkefly said that unknown to Dr Ahmad Yunus, the ministry has already began investigating the death of a doctor at the Seberang Jaya hospital.
“I am waiting for the findings of the internal investigation,” he said.
The Star reported that Dr Ch’ng Hooi Ping was found dead on June 27 in her car in the hospital parking lot due to fluid in the lungs.Her sister believes that her untimely death was caused by overwork and exhaustion due to inadequate rest, adding there were no signs of bullying nor were there indications that Dr Ch’ng had mental health problems.
The post-mortem report found no foul play and acute pulmonary edema was identified as the cause of death.
Answering to a question from Howard Lee (PH-Ipoh Timur), Dzulkefly said the findings of the independent committee established to investigate the death of a pathology specialist at Hospital Lahad Datu will be made public.
Dr Tay Tien Yaa was found dead in her rental unit on August 29, following allegations of workplace bullying.
Dzulkefly also gave an assurance that he would take appropriate action against parties involved if there were elements of bullying in the case, even if the findings of the independent committee found no criminal element associated with the specialist’s death.
