Health Minister Saddened by Health Workers' Lack of Empathy Towards Patients

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has expressed his sadness in response to cases of healthcare workers and medical staff making unempathetic comments towards the public, particularly a National Health Insurance (JKN) participant. “I am very sad to see that healthcare workers and other professional staff who serve the public should have empathy. I feel sorry for our society if we are not empathetic like that,” he said when met at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Thursday.

This follows the emergence of unempathetic comments from a number of healthcare workers and medical staff on social media directed at a JKN patient who complained after waiting eight hours for a room. The patient later died.

Previously, the Indonesian Health Council (KKI) stated that it had identified 10 healthcare workers and medical staff suspected of making the unempathetic comments. “There are civil servants, there are those in specialist education programmes, there are general practitioners, private sector workers, and also private sector nurses and dentists,” said KKI Leadership Member dr. Mohammad Syahril during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

Syahril explained that the KKI will conduct an investigation together with professional organisations, educational institutions, health facilities, and local governments. The investigation aims to determine the type of violation committed, whether it is an ethical violation, a professional discipline violation, or a legal violation.