THE 33-hour on-call shifts are not only unfair to government doctors but also patients, says a government backbencher. Citing The Star’s front-page report last week, Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) questioned how the shift is still the norm, adding that it could also affect services received by patients.
“For example, a doctor may start his shift at 8am and end it at 5pm the same day, marking nine working hours.
“Following this, they have to stand by and be on-call until 8am the following day, which brings it to 15 total working hours.
“Then, they go straight into their daily routine until 5pm the following day, bringing it to a total 33 working hours at least.
“This is an extremely long working period and will surely affect the welfare of doctors, with some losing their lives due to work fatigue,” he told a press conference at the Parliament media centre yesterday.
On Oct 16, The Star highlighted calls by the medical fraternity to do away with 30-hour on-call periods after a doctor at a government hospital in Penang was found dead in her car at the parking lot of the hospital she served.
This resulted in the doctor’s sister, who was serving as a medical officer in another government hospital in Penang, resigning immediately.
The sister believed that her sibling’s untimely death was caused by overwork and exhaustion as a result of inadequate rest.
On a related matter, Khoo questioned how many of the vacancies listed by the Health Ministry had already been filled.
Citing a parliamentary written reply by the ministry, he said there were 8,470 specialist positions and 34,922 medical officer positions.
“However, the pertinent question remains, how many of these positions have actually been filled?” he asked.
He also cited the ministry’s written reply in the Dewan Negara earlier this year about an average of 199 specialists quitting annually over the past 10 years.
“This means close to 2,000 specialists have resigned over this period,” he added.
Khoo also called on Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad to find a swift resolution to both matters.
“Dr Dzulkefly previously said he had unfinished business when he took up the post of Health Minister in 2023.
“I hope unfinished business here includes overcoming the lack of specialists and improving doctors’ welfare,” he said.
