KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry (MoH) is addressing concerns over the resignation of more than 6,000 doctors in the past five years, with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad emphasising that the issue is not being taken lightly.
“I have listened to all your concerns and those of our doctors. I fully acknowledge and recognise that the MoH is understaffed and that some staff, more than others, are overburdened and overworked. I would never want to deny this fact,” he said in a post on X last night.
The minister highlighted that the resignations include 3,200 contract medical officers (MOs) who left to transition into permanent positions, which is part of established procedures.
“Additionally, some doctors have moved into academia, arguably still contributing to strengthening the public health sector,” he added.
However, Dzulkefly acknowledged that the issue of brain drain persists, with many doctors leaving for the private sector.
“Brain drain remains a significant challenge across all industries, including healthcare. While we admittedly aren’t able to stop our MOs and specialists from moving to the private sector, we nonetheless have introduced several strategies to retain them,” he said.
To address the challenges, MoH is implementing short and medium-term measures, including pay adjustments, among others.
“Short-term measures include salary adjustments, flexible work schedules, and permitting locum practices,”
Meanwhile, medium-term solutions include introducing the “Rakan KKM Partnership,” which he described as “a game-changer of sort, to reduce the attrition rate of our healthcare professionals, through hopefully better remunerations, besides getting to improve public facilities through cross-subsidies from our new sources of revenues from Rakan KKM’s ‘premium economy facilities’.”
Dzulkefly also addressed the staffing shortages at Seri Manjung Hospital in Perak, confirming efforts to allocate more medical officers to critical departments.
“Regarding the situation at Seri Manjung Hospital, we will strive to allocate more MOs to critical departments. This effort will be carried out in collaboration with the Human Resources Unt to ensure sufficient manpower.
“Arguably this is an uphill task,” he said.
He acknowledged that these challenges are not confined to Seri Manjung Hospital but are part of a broader issue.
“There is an annual increase in MO allocation to all MoH facilities, and a new batch of MOs was just assigned last week. Therefore, Seri Manjung Hospital will soon receive additional medical staff,” he assured.
In addition to immediate efforts, the minister reaffirmed his commitment to systemic reforms, including the establishment of the Health Services Commission, which he described as “a reform we vouched to do from our early days of ‘Reformasi.’”
He said the initiative will demonstrate a long-term commitment to addressing and resolving systemic issues within the healthcare sector.
“I am committed to working closely with the Public Service Department and Finance Ministry to assist the MoH in overcoming these challenges.
“You know all too well that some matters fall outside the jurisdiction of the MoH, which is why we are seeking Public Service Department’s involvement to ensure these issues are resolved effectively and amicably,” Dzulkefly explained.
“This is aligned with our Health White Paper. I must say that to achieve this onerous and gargantuan task, we need all hands on deck,” he concluded. – December 22, 2024
