Beware Of Doctors, Fake Doctors!

Susanto, a fake doctor or doctor who worked at Pelindo Husada Citra Hospital for two years, Surabaya. (Special)

JAKARTA - The case of fake doctors that occurred in Surabaya shocked the public. How not, doctors are professions that are in direct contact with the community.

Susanto, a fake doctor in Surabaya, was exposed after Pelindo Husada Citra Hospital (PHC Hospital) was about to extend her work contract in April 2023. The fake doctor was then reported to the East Java Regional Police (East Java Police).

Susanto was accepted to work through a recruitment process which was held online in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and contracted for two years. This means that Susanto has worked for approximately two years.

However, in an official statement, the President Director of the PHC Hospital, Dr. Sunardjo, emphasized that Susanto had never been placed to serve general patients at the PHC Surabaya Hospital. This fake doctor is placed in the Occupational Health & Indutrial Hygiene (OHIH) clinic, PT Pertamina's K3 clinic EP IV Cepu.

The public then became even more surprised by Susanto's track record, who had repeatedly committed similar crimes. Including the latest case, this high school graduate man has committed fraud seven times by becoming a fake doctor. He even spent 20 months in prison for a similar case.

The question is why Susanto seems to have repeatedly committed fraud. Whereas as we all know, being a doctor is not an easy job. DR.dr. Moh. Adib Khumaidi, SpOT, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Doctors Association said technological advances are one of the factors that make it easier for perpetrators to commit crimes, including by making fake documents.

As is known, the defendant applied as a doctor at PT PHC using a fake identity belonging to a doctor named Anggi Yurikno, a doctor in Bandung Regency. The irregularities were found when PT PHC carried out the process of extending the work contract.

Dr. Adib explained, in the recruitment process for medical personnel or health workers, it is necessary to pay attention to clinical assignments and clinical authority or clinical appointment and clinical privilege. In this case, during the process of recruiting health facilities (faskes), it must carry out a very important process, called credentials.

"In the credential process, not only checking documents or filing documents, but in the credential process there is an internal organization called the Practice Permit Recommendation Committee (KRIP)," Adib said in a virtual press conference, Thursday, September 14.

In the credential process, it is this CRYP that then recommends whether the applicant is a real doctor or a fake doctor.

On the same occasion, a member of the Legal Bureau for Member Development and Defending (BHP2A) dr. Dewa Nyoman Sutayana, SH, MH, Mars said the credential process was the most important part of the process of recruiting medical personnel by health facilities.

In the credential process, there should be a medical committee team asking their doctor about previous experiences, verifying the required documents, including investigating whether the person concerned was caught in a case in a previous experience. This credential process should be repeated once a year.

"Credentials are done to ensure that those dealing with patients are real doctors or competent doctors. If the credential process is carried out optimally, then fake doctors will not pass," said dr. Dewa.

In addition, dr. Dewa said about the negative impact of the large amount of health information circulating on the internet. Much of the health information in the digital era like today actually has a good purpose for the community. With the ease of accessing health information, the public is expected to be more vigilant and be able to carry out the first treatment before checking with a doctor.

But on the other hand, this information is allegedly used by certain individuals to act as doctors or fake doctors.

With the ease of accessing health information, people easily know the cause of a disease, what the symptoms are, how the treatment is. For ordinary people, this health information is good, but for those who have bad intentions, this information is then misused by people who think of themselves as doctors. He took advantage of the opportunity to enter the health facility," dr. Dewa emphasized.

IDI itself terms a fake doctor as a dokteroid', namely someone who is not a doctor but does medical practice. This doctor is not only done by ordinary people, as Susanto does, but it can also be done by someone who is a health worker (carry, midwife, pharmacy). In fact, medical practice can only be done by medical personnel, namely doctors and dentists.

According to dr. Dewa, in today's era there are actually many cases of doctors spread across the community. One of the most common examples is beauty salons, where usually wearing a doctor's white coat or what is called snelli, even though he is not an expert in aesthetics, but only a beauty expert.

Padahal menurut Pasal 312 UU Nomor 17 Tahun 2023 Tentang Kesehatan menegaskan bahwa setiap orang dilarang (a) tanpa hak menggunakan identitas berupa gelar atau bentuk lain yang menimbulkan impression bagi masyarakat yang bersangkutan merupakan Tenaga Medis atau Tenaga Kesehatan yang telah memiliki STR dan/atau SIP.

Anyone who uses an identity in the form of a title or other form that creates an impression in the community that the person concerned is a medical worker or health worker can be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of IDR 500 million. This is contained in Article 441 of Law Number 17 of 2023 concerning Health.