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THE MEDICAL personnel involved in the Internet scandal at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) will be reassigned to other departments in the hospital while waiting for the results of the investigations of the Health Department and the Ombudsman.
The transfer of three doctors and a nurse followed the release of the results of an in-house investigation on the medical personnel caught jeering in a video that was uploaded to the video sharing website YouTube.
“What we have is only recommendatory, validation will still be made by the Department of Health. We submitted a six-page report to the DOH and the Office of the Ombudsman, including the names of the doctors and nurses involved,” said Dr. Emmanuel Gines, VSMMC media relations committee head.
Dr. Gerardo Aquino, VSMMC medical chief, ordered the transfer of the medical staff after the in-house investigation on the incident was made.
The hospital got flak after a video uploaded in YouTube showed a patient, Danilo (not his real name), unconscious and being operated and surrounded by more than 10 medical personnel who cheered and jeered when a metal can of Black Suede body spray was pulled out of his rectum.
“Dr. Aquino said they (the three doctors and nurse) will be relieved from their post and moved to other sections but they will continue to work in the hospital,” said Gines.
He said that the VSMMC management still has to wait for the results of the investigation conducted by the DOH and the Ombudsman before imposing, if applicable, any sanctions to the medical staff involved.
DOH PROBE
A special committee organized by the health department to probe the scandal will look into the behavior of the medical personnel involved.
“The problem is the behavior (of the hospital personnel),” said DOH Regional Director Dr. Susana Madarieta.
“The hospital procedure was well done. They saved the life of the patient who was able to go home. They were able to take out the canister completely without puncturing it,” she added.
Madarieta said the successful operation showed that the medical staff who performed the operation was very competent.
She said that she sympathized with the patient but she also knew that the medical practitioners involved had paid for their misbehavior.
“I would just like to reiterate, these are good doctors, these are very young professionals with budding careers. Mao rag luoy sab bitaw sila. Because of this negative behavior lang nga atong ikuan. Although we also sympathize with the patient nga this happened to him, pero I think the doctors are already paying just from the start even if their names are not mentioned,” she said.
However, despite the pity she felt for the doctors, she said that if sanctions would be imposed then they should be imposed.
She added that the committee will try to determine whether the VSMMC staff violated provisions of the Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
sanctions
Madarieta said the possible sanctions that will be meted to the involved persons will vary depending on their level of participation.
She said these would range from a mere reprimand, one month suspension, three months suspension, six years suspension, one year suspension or dismissal from service.
Dismissal from service means they could no longer work in any government hospitals, but still they can go to private hospitals.
She said revocation of license is within the power of PRC and not with the DOH.
Dr. Elaine Teleron, Integrity Development committee chief of DOH-7, heads the four-man investigating committee.
The committee received a copy of the findings of the VSMMC's in-house investigation on Friday.
It is expected to send results of its investigation to the DOH Central Office on Monday, which is the deadline set by Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on the committee.
review
Meanwhile, Madarieta, who is also the director of the Center for Health Development Central Visayas (CHD), said that hospitals in Central Visayas are reviewing their policies on patients right to privacy to prevent the VSMMC scandal from happening again.
One of the policies reviewed was to impose a strict prohibition of cellular phones and other gadgets in operating rooms and other key areas in their respective medical facilities.
She said recently that more than 100 private and government hospitals in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor have been undertaking the review following the VSMMC scandal.
Madarieta said that because of the incident, she directed the chiefs of the government hospitals to study their policies for possible revisions which would be discussed extensively in next month's CHD-7 regular meeting.
"Private hospitals in our area have started to conduct a review of their policies even without being asked to because they did not want the incident at VSMMC to happen again," the CHD-7 director revealed.
Madarieta, likewise, told the Inquirer that she instructed the head of the regional Regulations, Licensing and Enforcement Division to ensure the hospitals strict compliance with the new policies upon final approval.
scandalized
In another development, Secretary Cerge Remonde, who was scandalized by the VSMMC incident, ordered Health Secretary Duque to investigate and punish those found guilty.
Remonde, who is head of the Presidential Management Staff, said he took it upon himself to order the investigation after seeing the video of the operation posted on YouTube, a free video-sharing site on the Internet.
"I myself am scandalized by that. I will take the initiative, I will issue a memorandum to Secretary Duque to investigate that incident because it happened in a government hospital," he said in a separate interview over dzRB.
"As a Cebuano myself, I am scandalized by that report, so I think it should be properly investigated and if found to be true, those responsible should be appropriately penalized," he stressed. With Inquirer report
