Over 20 Public Health Doctors in Gokseong and Damyang
Found to Have Taken Improper Sick Leave and Unexcused Absences
Inappropriate work behaviors among public health doctors assigned to serve in medically underserved areas as an alternative to military service have been uncovered by the Board of Audit and Inspection. Numerous cases of negligence were detected, including issuing false medical certificates to each other to improperly take sick leave and focusing on online games instead of attending to patients.
According to the audit results for Gokseong and Damyang counties in South Jeolla Province, released by the Board of Audit and Inspection on September 19, five public health doctors in Gokseong County issued medical certificates to one another for reasons such as arthritis, colds, and acute enteritis without providing any actual medical treatment, and used these certificates to take sick leave. In particular, one public health doctor was found to have preemptively applied for sick leave by submitting a false request in anticipation of upcoming leave, and submitted a medical certificate that misstated both the diagnosis and the treatment period.
Inappropriate work behaviors of public health doctors assigned to serve in medically underserved areas as an alternative to military service were revealed by the Board of Audit and Inspection (photo provided for article context and unrelated to the content).
Additionally, some public health doctors engaged in serious neglect of duty by not reporting to their assigned workplaces and instead playing online games at their government-provided residences. One public health doctor, an oriental medicine doctor at a public health clinic in Gokseong County, neglected patient care by providing only consultations instead of acupuncture treatments, and spent most of the working hours at the residence citing personal errands due to a decrease in patient numbers. As a result, there was even a case where the doctor did not perform any substantial work for as many as 363 days in a year.
Eight current and former public health doctors in Damyang County were also found to have taken sick leave without medical certificates and used leave inappropriately. One of them was found to have been absent without leave for more than eight days. The official responsible for approving leave was physically separated from the public health doctors, making it difficult to monitor their attendance, and other civil servants were also unable to accurately track their leave status, so unauthorized absences were not easily detected.
These issues have undermined the efforts of the government and local authorities to address medical service gaps through the public health doctor system. The Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to raise the upper limit of the work activity incentive, which is part of the public health doctors' allowance, from 1.8 million won to 2.25 million won starting next year. However, the Board of Audit and Inspection strongly criticized the lack of proper management and supervision, urging improvements to the system.
Based on the audit findings, the Board of Audit and Inspection has requested that the Military Manpower Administration and the Ministry of Health and Welfare take appropriate actions in accordance with relevant laws, and has notified them to conduct a comprehensive survey on the actual work status of public health doctors and to establish measures to strengthen the management system.
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