THE Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) expressed its hopes that answers to many issues relating to contract doctors will be provided during the winding-up session of the Budget 2022 debate in Parliament today (Nov 17).
Many of the contract doctors’ contracts will expire by year’s end, but up until now no information has been given on the status of these contracts which has resulted in fear and anxiety among many of these contract doctors, said association president Dr Koh Kar Chai.
“The MMA had proposed that the Public Service Department (JPA) open up more posts while also looking at longer contract periods of up to 10 years instead of extensions of up to two years every time contracts are up for renewal,” he added.
In addition to reducing time spent on administrative issues, the longer contract period will also allow contract doctors to pursue specialisation and provide some semblance of job security which is among the many issues faced currently.
“We also hope the issue of post-graduate pathways for contract doctors will be addressed in the Health Minister’s winding up [of the Budget 2022 debate],” Dr Koh continued.
According to him, the current batch of contract doctors are not able to apply for higher learning programmes (HLPs) or even any locally-sponsored programmes.
While it was mentioned in Parliament that these doctors would be eligible for these programmes, there has yet to be anything in black-and-white from JPA.
“As a solution, we have suggested to allow doctors to be eligible for Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP) in which we were informed that a separate grant would be created but we are still waiting for this,” Dr Koh noted.
“At the same time, if these doctors were to join recognised programmes, [the Government should consider offering them] paid study leave (Cuti Belajar Bergaji Penuh, CBBP).”
Dr Koh went on to point out that the annual leaves of many healthcare workers’ were still frozen as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and this is also contributing to the growing dissatisfaction and disappointment especially considering that many of them had served on the frontline during the pandemic for close to two years.
“The MMA had proposed that this accumulated annual leaves to be extended for two years and utilised during that period. We believe that this decision can easily be made as it is at no cost to the Government,” he remarked.
Dr Koh further urged that all doctors’ claims be settled immediately, and these include COVID-19 and travel claims, among others.
“The MMA’s Section Concerning House Officers, Medical Officers and Specialists (SCHOMOS) division did a brief survey on claims-related issues and found that many doctors were receiving their claims late while some were not paid their claims and were given ‘tiada peruntukan’ (no provisions) excuse.
“We find this unacceptable as this is money owed to the doctors for services already provided. Many of the doctors have been waiting for months for their claims, while others had received their pays later than usual,” he revealed.
Dr Koh also expressed disappointment that nothing significant is reflected in Budget 2022 to address the issue of contract doctors despite a meeting with the Finance Ministry – which was initiated by Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz himself – several months ago.
“In the virtual meeting, MMA had explained in detail the contract doctor situation in the country, and the minister took note of all the issues.
“Figures were also provided for the minister to plan budgets but in the end, it seems that we are back to square one and needless to say, the Budget 2022 provisions for public healthcare is a let-down,” he commented.
Dr Koh noted that the issue was brought to the attention of former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and half the current Cabinet consists of the same ministers.
“Some of the present ministers also held Cabinet positions years ago but nothing was done. It clearly shows that there is no political will to resolve this long-standing issue due to poor policies of the past and who are the victims of such poor policies if not the contract doctors?” – Nov 17, 2021
