MANILA (UPDATED) — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday was ordered to submit to a  Senate panel a list of hospitals that recorded incidents of senior doctors bullying their younger colleagues after lawmakers found that some medical practitioners are being bullied in their work places.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo raised the issue noting that incidents of bullying in some hospitals have led several doctors to self harm.

“May nagpakamatay na naman recently na doctor sa Chinese General Hospital because of bullying,” the senator said.

“Dapat may managot kasi as long as walang nananagot, issue lang kayo ng issue ng memo… it will continue…. Dapat may maparusahan,” he said.

CGHMC CLARIFIES DEATH OF RESIDENT

The Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (CGHMC) clarified that authorities have yet to identify the cause of death of one of their residents who was found lifeless in her condominium unit on August 9.

“We were shocked when we found out what happened. We immediately created a committee to investigate,” said Dr. Samuel Ang, medical director of the CGHMC.

“We found out that she was a model resident of the Anesthesiology Department. She was never a target of bullying either from the consultants or other residents, in fact, she was groomed to be the chief resident,” Ang said in a letter sent to ABS-CBN News.

“As far as our hospital's initial investigation is concerned, we found no indication of any suicidal tendencies on the part,” he said.

“As of this moment, we are still awaiting the results of the autopsy and the toxicology report before we could be able to make any final and authoritative conclusion on the cause and manner of her death,” he added.

The CGHMC has been actively working “to create an environment where learning and growth can thrive without fear,” Ang said.

“We agree with you that bullying has no place in any organization,” he said.

“Furthermore, the hospital has strict policies and disciplinary protocols against workplace bullying, and there has never been any incident reported in the history of the hospital's existence,” he said.

TULFO WANTS LIST OF HOSPITALS WITH INCIDENTS OF BULLYING

Tulfo directed the DOH to submit a list of doctors involved in incidents of bullying and what the involved hospitals did to address the issue.

“Yung pamamahiya in front of patients, ginagawa silang utusan, pinapamalengke, pinagdradrive nung senior yung mga anak nila sa junior, taga ayos ng mga events, taga bili ng bulaklak, balloons… Pagdating ng ospital papahiyain pa iniinsulto, talagang bullying,” he said.

“Dapat ‘yung mga director niyan i-sanction. Sino ba yung in charge sa mga resident doctors? Yung doctor kung sino in charge sa pagma-manage ng residency, I want that [person] suspended, investigated,” he said.

The DOH said it has released advisories and internal memos to ensure that hospitals and other medical facilities are free from bullying, and has launched a hotline for medical workers in distress.

But Tulfo was dissatisfied with the step, describing the effort as “not effective.”

“It’s not working the fact na mayroon na namang nagpakamatay,” the lawmaker said.

“These doctors sila yung nagse-save ng buhay ng mga pasyente and yet they cannot save themselves. Find a way to address this issue ASAP,” he said.

Tulfo also warned health officials not to blame doctors who are distressed due to bullying.

“There are peoiple who caused them to commit suicide,” he said.

“Hindi maganda ang dating sa akin na [sinasabing], ‘Mahina sila kaya sila nagpapakamatay.’”

The senator instead urged the DOH to regularly monitor doctors who are exhibiting symptoms of depression in health facilities.

“Dapat mayroon din kayong monitoring na kapag may nakikita kayong doktor na nasa tabi na lang o wala sa mood, nababalitaan niyo na nabubully, pull out niyo, pagpahingahin niyo muna,” he said.

“Promise me na wala nang magpapakamatay na doktor ever dahil kapag meron I will raise hell. Promise, I assure you, makakatikim kayo baka mumurahin ko pa kayo… dahil ibig sabihin nagpabaya kayo, ibig sabihin inutil kayo, incompetent. You are not doing your job to address the issue. This is a serious matter,” he said.

There were three bullying cases in hospital recorded between January and February this year, according to data from the Philippine Medical Association.

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