PETALING JAYA: Feedback by public healthcare workers in a report by an independent task force has shown adequate grounds for the Health Ministry to revamp the working culture across all of its facilities nationwide.The report, prepared by the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force under the Health Ministry, also revealed that public healthcare workers want more support at workplaces.
The report found that 60% or 66,247 respondents have positive feelings at the workplace, while 20% or 22,082 are neutral, and the remaining 20% respondents have negative feelings. The report, tabled in a closed-door briefing with Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa in Parliament in April this year, revealed that physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, coupled with workplace stress, have contributed to unprofessional behaviour.
It also said that due to the lack of counselling services, many healthcare workers were referred directly to the psychiatrist unit without being given prior counselling. “We have been highlighting this issue for almost two years. We were the first to publicly highlight this in our social media early last year when the ministry finally agreed to form the HWCITF to find a solution,” said the group’s spokesperson, Dr Muhammad Yassin.