SHAH ALAM: The decision to approve limited maternity leave due to the lack of medical officers at the Hulu Langat district health office in Selangor was agreed upon by all clinc heads in the district.
Selangor state health department director Dr Ummi Kalthom Shamsudin said the decision was made considering seven medical officers were on maternity leave simultaneously at several health clinics throughout June and July 2024.
She added that the situation was exacerbated by medical officers rejecting their placements after being posted to Hulu Langat.
"If measures such as the reported limitation of maternity leave were not taken, it would have increased the workload and pressure on serving medical practitioners to fulfil public health needs.
"In principle, the Health Ministry (MOH) will ensure that continuous service to the public remains unaffected. This has to be done without affecting the quality of service, the safety of patients, and the welfare of medical practitioners in general,” she said in a statement on Saturday (Aug 3).
She mentioned that the Hulu Langat health clinic had also sought the opinion of the Health Ministry’s Human Resource Division’s Regulatory Unit and Employee Relations in 2023 about reducing the duration of maternity leave.
According to the Human Resource Services Circular (Leave Facility) Version 1.0 (2022), the allotted period for maternity leave was between 60 to 90 days for each birth, with flexibility to determine the exact period, Dr Ummi said.
"Taking everything into consideration, the Hulu Langat health office took temporary measures to set maternity leave at 60 days for each birth, the minimum mandatory.
"However, the Hulu Langat health office will still consider any request for additional maternity leave on a case-by-case basis, and each approval is subject to the interests of the service,” she added.
She said the office also held dialogue sessions with district health officers and medical officers on Friday (Aug 2) to provide briefings on the current situation and improvement measures carried out in the district.
The Selangor state health department was also trying to fill vacancies in the Hulu Langat health office as soon as possible.
She also assured that they remained committed to seeking the best solution for the continued health service at the state level.
A local news portal had previously reported on the 60-day maternity leave imposed on medical officers working in the district health clinics since June 27. – Bernama
