PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry’s contract system for contract doctors should be made fair and similar to the ones created for those in the permanent posts, says the Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement.
The movement’s spokesman, Dr Muhammad Yassin, said such a move could help plug the brain drain of fresh medical graduates and medical officers to other countries.
“There is a need to improvise the contract system and make it fair, similar to its permanent counterpart. For example, time-based promotions can be introduced and certain leave days only granted for permanent doctors,” he said yesterday.
He was responding to a statement by Prof Datuk Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman that Universiti Malaya lost at least 30 of its best medical graduates to Singapore every year.
Dr Adeeba, a Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Universiti Malaya’s Medical Faculty, said the lack of posts and clear training pathways had caused doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to look abroad for employment or better opportunities.Dr Muhammad called for medical graduates to be allowed to do their attachments at hospitals while waiting for their placements.
“Courses can also be conducted in collaboration between universities and the Education and Health Ministries as part of pre-housemanship preparations for these young budding doctors,” he suggested.
“The main reason we are fighting for a permanent post for all is that the lack of job security makes young doctors feel uncertain about their future.
“Also, previously, their inability to specialise had caused many of them to seek greener pastures overseas,” he said, adding that this issue was resolved several months ago.
Calling for a review of the salaries of and on-call allowances for contract doctors, a medical officer from a public hospital in the Klang Valley, who only wanted to be known as Dr Cheng, said it was high time for the upcoming Health White Paper to address all healthcare service issues.
“There are no clear salary schemes and promotion grades for contract doctors; subspecialists still have no extra allowance.
“The criteria of key posts in the public sector (Jusa) is also not transparent,” he said.
The Star reported yesterday that the healthcare sector was not the only profession facing a brain drain.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the longstanding issue affected all skilled employment sectors in Malaysia.
