Address issues plaguing contract pharmacists too, group tells Gov’t

THE Government should overhaul the contract scheme for civil servants, particularly involving healthcare professionals, to create a more transparent evaluation and selection system for the public healthcare future needs.

“Our 1,966 contract pharmacists, while given the opportunity to continue serving for another year based on the extension announced by the health minister on Feb 25, are still facing an uncertain future.

“In a recent survey conducted by the MPS Young Pharmacists Chapter (563 respondents), contract pharmacists continue to seek clarity on job security and transparency involving selection criteria for permanent posts,” Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) president Amrahi Buang told FocusM.

Recently, contract medical officers (MO) have threatened to launch a strike on July 1 as they were unhappy that over 23,000 of them have yet to get absorbed automatically as permanent staff, as was the practice in the past.

Many of them have been serving since December 2016, adding they were upset that the Government had only promised to extend their contracts until December next year.

On June 23, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said that the Government has never stopped taking medical graduates for training, even during the pandemic crisis.

Responding to the calls made by the Malaysian Public Health Medical Association and the Malaysian Islamic Doctors Association, Adham added that the Government would ensure that medical graduates, especially bumiputera, can serve on a permanent basis and reduce unemployment rate.

However, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) lashed out at the minister for his statement, saying racial or religious prejudices should not influence the selection of officers or whether they would serve in permanent appointments.

“Malaysia needs the best and brightest individuals to serve the people and talent does not distinguish between ethnicity, religion, creed or gender,” its president Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy was reported saying.

Yesterday, former Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye told FocusM that the Government should create more permanent posts in the Health Ministry (MOH) and allow contract MOs to be eligible for Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP), with longer tenure of contract attached to address the issue.

On that note, Amrahi said that while it was laudable that improvements have been made for contract dental officers (with the offer of UG43 contract positions), some contract pharmacists (from 2016) who got extension due to COVID-19, are yet to be given the same level of remuneration under grade UF43.

Race-based schemes must be ditched

This comes even after contract pharmacists having served more than four years and being on the same level as permanent pharmacists; as per years of service and workload.

“On the other hand, like contract MOs, career advancement opportunities for contract pharmacists have been stifled due to the three-year contract cap, leading to many exiting the system prematurely and unable to pursue a career in Government service,” he stressed.

Amrahi said that despite not being credited enough, pharmacists were striving hard to ensure the continuity of pharmacotherapy and immunisation efforts are well-maintained in the country.

“It’s never an exaggeration to describe pharmacists as an integral part of the chain of patient care. Aside from their role in procurement, a pharmacist is also the healthcare professional who safeguards the provision of pharmacotherapy via pharmaceutical care in every step of the medication supply and administration chain.

“This includes the consultative role of clinical pharmacists in managing complex clinical cases together with doctors and specialists in the ward, identifying possible interactions and precautions about medication therapy and COVID-19 vaccines, patient education and others,” he mentioned.

On related matter, Amrahi echoed MMA’s call and urged the Government to bin policies that has racial or religious prejudices attached to it when it comes to selecting talent for permanent posts.

“MPS welcomes the remark by the MOH secretary general today on the contentious issue. We reiterate that any ethnic-driven policies should not be entertained when it comes to healthcare.

“Such discriminating policy ideas are regressive and unacceptable in this multiracial country. Saving lives should be ‘colour blind’,” he remarked. – June 28, 2021

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