THE Malaysia’s Medical Association (MMA) has urged the government to proceed cautiously with plans to redeploy doctors from the Ministry of Health’s headquarters to hospitals and clinics, warning that many headquarters-based physicians may have been away from frontline clinical practice for years and will require structured retraining before returning to patient care.
MMA president R Thirunavukarasu said the government’s intention to strengthen frontline healthcare delivery was laudable, but the process must be strategic rather than wholesale.
“As such, asking them to return to clinical duties is not a simple solution,” he said. “Retraining must be carried out to ensure patient safety and service continuity. Redeployment is not merely a change of location; it encompasses clinical and operational responsibilities that must be executed with care.”
His remarks follow comments by Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, who said the civil service was being strengthened through the reassignment of medical officers and police personnel to areas with greater need, as part of a broader effort to bring public services closer to the people.
Shamsul Azri previously noted that a significant number of specialist doctors were stationed at the Health Ministry’s headquarters rather than in the hospitals or clinics requiring their expertise.
Thirunavukarasu said the effort to optimise the healthcare workforce was timely and that enhancing services closer to communities was a national priority.
However, he cautioned against oversimplifying the issue, stressing that while some headquarters-based roles might be better located in service facilities, many functions in the Health Ministry’s central administration remain vital to the stability of the health system.
These, he noted, include public health planning, clinical governance, training, digital health, quality and safety monitoring, and long-term policy development.
“MMA also believes that the same principles should apply if doctors are redeployed from hospitals or clinics to the Ministry’s headquarters,” he said.
“Assignments involving policy and management must also consider proper competency matching and clear communication so that neither service-level functions nor policymaking capabilities are compromised.”
To maintain public confidence, he said, the entire redeployment exercise should be transparent and clearly communicated to the public. - December 10, 2025
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