Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the task force will conduct a comprehensive and systematic investigation into the Perak case, Sinar Harian reported.

Dzulkefly said the ministry is also awaiting the findings of police investigations before making any decisions on the matter.

“Such cases are rare and do not, in any way, tarnish the image of the ministry,” he told a press conference after visiting flood victims at a temporary relief centre in Tumpat, Kelantan.

Yesterday, the Perak health department confirmed that a doctor was abused by a colleague in June, and that it had reprimanded the medical officer in question.

The department said it initiated an internal investigation after Dr Aidid Nawawi Ghazali chronicled his abuse on social media last Sunday.

State health director Dr Feisul Idzwan Mustapha said a committee was set up on June 4, the day the abuse took place, and found the complaint to be legitimate.

He said the hospital director issued the medical officer a letter of reprimand on July 31 and that a copy of the investigation report was sent to Aidid on Aug 1.

Feisul said the department also established an independent committee to investigate the incident.

The special task force mentioned by Dzulkefly was initially set up in August following the death of Dr Tay Tien Yaa, a pathologist with the Lahad Datu Hospital. She was alleged to have committed suicide.

Tay died on Aug 29, after which her sister claimed that bullying might have been one of the factors that led to her death.

The task force is headed by former public services department director-general Borhan Dollah and comprises five other independent members who have extensive expertise in medicine, psychiatry, pathology as well as mental health and bullying.

The current task force was also tasked with identifying the type of bullying that typically occurs in government hospitals as well as factors that may contribute to it. It was also instructed to prepare a report of its findings and recommendations within three months.