KUALA LUMPUR: Manpower matters, including the issue of 30-hour on-call shifts for doctors, are being looked into as the Health Ministry seeks the right “prescription” for them, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
“We are now looking at the question of supply and demand regarding the deployment of our human resources,” the Health Minister said.
“Within that framework, we will be able to address specific issues (like the 30-hour shifts).
“This does not happen everywhere. This is why we have to understand where the gaps are.
“We have to identify the shortfall and give the correct ‘prescription’,” he said on the sidelines of the ministry’s Disaster Management Conference here yesterday.
Dzulkefly was asked if the ministry would look into calls by doctors to review the long shifts, which they claim have taken a toll on their well-being.
While not promising a definite outcome, he said the ministry is trying to understand the issues that need to be addressed.
The Star reported yesterday that doctors have called for the 30-hour shifts to be reduced to “more humane” hours.
In June, a 31-year-old doctor was found dead in her car in the parking lot of a hospital, with fluid in her lungs. Her sister believed that her untimely death was caused by overwork, exhaustion and inadequate rest.
Dzulkefly said he hopes issues that have caused concern among healthcare workers will be addressed in Budget 2025 to be announced tomorrow.
“We hope due consideration is given to their welfare,” he added.
On the death of a pathology specialist at Hospital Lahad Datu in Sabah, Dzulkefly said he had met with Tan Sri Borhan Dollah, the chairman of the task force set up to investigate the incident.
The task force, he added, is independent of the ministry.
Dzulkefly also said the ministry is looking into alleged bullying that has been identified in other government-run health facilities.
Dr Tay Tien Yaa, 30, the head of the hospital’s Chemical Pathology Unit, was found dead in her rental unit on Aug 29, following allegations of workplace bullying.
On Oct 1, her brother Tay Yong Shen said his sister had showed no sign of depression or despair, adding that the family later discovered evidence in her WhatsApp conversations of her workload and how she was being treated.
On another note, the ministry has drawn up guidelines to strengthen resilience and response to disasters and crises in its effort to prepare the country to face potential disasters such as landslides and floods, said Dzulkefly.
“We are also emphasising chemical disasters and infectious diseases such as Covid-19,” he told reporters at the event.
“It is important for a country to remain prepared, alert, agile and robust.”
He said this is also to ensure that the country’s development and economic progress will not be derailed in the event of a disaster.
Dzulkefly said the five-pronged guidelines have been tested through simulations at the district, state, national as well as Asean levels, and will be improved upon periodically.
The guidelines encompass the ministry’s Disaster Management Plan 2024; Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre’s standard operating procedure 2024; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Management Guidelines 2024; Rapid Assessment Team and Rapid Response Team 2024; and Human Resource Mobilisation During Public Health Emergencies 2024.
