《TAIPEI TIMES》Physician miscarries after 32 hours of straight shifts: probe

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday.

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The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said.

The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department.

In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight shifts and procedures that expose her to ionizing radiation, which the director approved, she said.

However, the senior colleague who coordinated shifts ignored that request and even arranged for her to work consecutive shifts adding up to 32 hours, she said.

When she tried to change her shifts, the colleague offered three unreasonable options: let other physicians take turns covering her shifts for computed tomography-guided procedures （with risk of radiation exposure）, but she would be required to help them file reports in return; provide evidence that the procedures would harm the fetus; or find coworkers who are willing to take her shifts on her own, she said.

“He said that if I encounter an unexpected situation, then the department can find someone else to help by then,” Y said. “But what if other physicians are all busy at the time and I cannot find anyone to help, am I supposed to leave my patients and not care about them?”

She said she had been working under tremendous physical and mental pressure, and had a miscarriage at seven weeks.

She then filed a complaint to the hospital, accusing the colleague of workplace bullying and gender discrimination.

It is not the first time the senior colleague had mistreated pregnant coworkers, and he has not apologized to them, she said.

The hospital said that as an investigation committee concluded that the senior colleague was involved in workplace bullying, he was removed from his post and would not be allowed to arrange coworkers’ shifts.

It added that it would enhance workplace training to prevent such problems.

“We will also strictly request that pregnant employees not be made to work the graveyard shift,” hospital deputy superintendent Lee Ming-che （李明哲） said.

The hospital said that if either party has objection to the committee’s decision, they could apply for reassessment in 20 days, and that a new decision of the gender equity investigation committee would be announced after it reaches a conclusion.

Additional reporting by CNA

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES