PRIME Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin called for a virtual meeting with the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) this morning to discuss the issues of contract doctors in our public healthcare system. We wish to thank the prime minister for taking the time to meet with us.
In the meeting attended by the health minister, health secretary-general and deputy director-general, and several MMA exco members, the prime minister had announced that contract extensions and similar benefits and perks would be provided to doctors as immediate short-term steps.
This will allow contract doctors to now specialise and be eligible for similar perks as their permanent counterparts.
The prime minister explained that due to the pandemic, there currently are several limitations to providing a permanent solution to the issue at this time. He however expressed his strong commitment to addressing these issues and vowed that he will personally monitor its progress going forward.
The prime minister also stated that MMA should be involved in healthcare-related policies for the government to get a better picture of the situation on the ground.
MMA welcomes the contract extensions as an immediate short-term step taken by the government. However, we wish to stress again that this is not a solution to the problem as this pandemic has shown how critical healthcare workers are and therefore more positions should be created for permanent posts. Besides this, the current proposal of a contract extension needs to be reviewed as other factors that may delay specialisation should be taken into account.
We look forward to working closely with the prime minister and Health Ministry on the holistic development of a medium- and long-term plan for healthcare worker employment in the government healthcare system. – The Vibes, July 23, 2021
Professor Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy is the president of the Malaysian Medical Association
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