Healthcare Workers Do not Deserve To Be Abused

Today, I received emails from a few staff who were at their wits end.

A patient has repeatedly demanded that he be given meals of his choice, outside of the menu choices available in the hospital. Each time, he would verbally abuse my staff and ordered them to even leave the hospital grounds to go to very specific food joints to get the food that he wanted. When he asked for chicken nasi bryani and was served from the hospital kitchen, he complained that the rice was not the correct byani grade and ordered my staff to go across the road to buy from the coffee shop. When staff stood firm with him, he threatened to jump, if he did not get his way.

Every meal time has become a terrible nightmare for hospital staff. Do healthcare workers deserved to be abused like this? I do not think so, even if they are full paying patients. We will stand firmly behind our staff, so that they have all the support that they need to do a good job looking after patients who need their fullest attention.

The incidence of abuse of healthcare workers has increased sharply in recent times. During the last 15 years I've spent in healthcare, I seen all kinds of abuses staff have been put through. Patients would go to the vending machine to buy a hot cup of milo just to throw it on a staff. A next-of-kin of a patient removed a drip pole from the bed to attack staff. Verbal abuses extend to making threats of harm to staff, threats to harm their career, and repeated shouting at staff during every visit causing severe mental anguish to staff.

Such abuses to healthcare workers cannot be tolerated. No one deserved to be abused verbally or physically, let alone healthcare workers who worked hard to care for the sick among us. There are 2 problems when we decide to respond to such abuses:

1. Our staff have been very compassionate even though they were abused. Each time, they have decided that they do not want to pursue the matter and would like to let the matter rest. They would like to give the benefit of doubt to the patient, i.e. that their aggression was the result of their illness and hence not wilfull.

2. Since the restructuring of public hospitals, healthcare workers are no longer considered "public servants". Under the Penal Code, voluntary causing hurt/ grievous hurt to deter a public servant from their duties is a seizable offence under Section 332 and 333 SHALL carry an imprisonment term or fine or caning. The aggressor physically abusing a public servant may be arrested by the police and be charged in court. However, after restructuring, physically abusing a healthcare worker is an offence under Section 323 of the Penal code, but it is a non-seizable offence. In this case, the victim (ie healthcare workers) or the hospital will have to go to court to pray for a summons before taking the aggressor to court, and the offence is normally one where the police will not arrest the aggressor (ie non-seizable).

Healthcare workers working in public hospitals are performing public duties and should be better protected. Perhaps, the stance adopted by the AG when road bully became a problem earlier in Singapore should be considered. Even though road bully cases typically fall under Section 323 of the Penal code (voluntary causing hurt), the decision was taken that all road bully cases will be prosecuted in court by the police where the facts are substantiated. Not surprisingly, the problem of road bullies has decreased significantly. I can imagine that the number of cases of abuse of healthcare workers will follow a similar downward trend when similar legal stance is adopted.

Hospitals are not perfect and occasionally we goof up. Tell us so that we will improve. But, our staff do not deserve to be abused.