Contracts of medical officers may be extended
SIBU: All 79 medical officers (MOs) currently under six-month contracts are encouraged to apply for extensions – or if available, for permanent posts.
According to Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing, this reflects a part of the consensus reached between the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 2 this year.
“Originally, it was stated in their (MOs’) six-month contracts that it was only a one-off offer.
“Details on the mechanism to apply for contract extensions will be released by the MoH later,” Ding, who is also Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Education Bureau chief, said in a statement yesterday.
On June 30, the bureau forwarded a letter of public appeal to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassina nd 222 members of Parliament (MPs), seeking fair treatment and solution for the 79 MOs, who were not being offered permanent posts in hospitals.
It is said they were only being given six months to serve, on the basis that they did their housemanship overseas.
In the letter, one of the requests put forth was for the MOs to be given permanent posts, or at least 10-year working contracts.
In this respect, Ding said these contract extensions should only be meant for MOs wishing to specialise in certain areas, where they would be bonded under the MoH later on.
He also the ministry had assured the MMA that a solution would be put forth and suggestions from the association would be taken into consideration.
“Such policy is also aimed at improving the specialist training (for the MOs) as well as providing specialist services to those in the rural areas, which seriously lack such medical services,” he said.
Ding, however, said although
SUPP had identified 79 affected MOs around the country, there could be more facing the same problem.
Meanwhile, he said the issue about the salary-upgrading of the MOs-on-contract, from Grade UD41 to UD43, was still being discussed.
According to him, the talks on MoH’s need for additional funding are on-going between the Public Service Department and Ministry of Finance.
“Hopefully, there would be closure to this issue soon,” he said.
However, Ding said SUPP was still disappointed over having no news about the request for the priority to be given to Sarawakian and Sabahan MOs to be posted in hospitals in their respective homestates.
“The SUPP Education Bureau hereby strongly urges all MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to continue fighting for this reasonable request, which is in the line with the ‘Borneonisation’ stipulated under Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he said.
Meanwhile, MMA Sibu chairman Dr Wong Chya Wei believed that Malaysia was facing severe shortage of medical specialists.
In this regard, he highlighted the importance for the government to provide a system where MOs would be given the opportunity to be trained towards becoming specialists in disciplines that they were interested in.
He also regarded Malaysia as ‘being fortunate’ in that there were master’s programmes in various medical disciplines, available at public universities.
Thus, he viewed Malaysia as ‘a good training ground’ for local MOs eyeing to become specialists.
“If we were to deny them this kind of opportunity, where would they be able to obtain training? A few of them have had the opportunities to pursue it overseas; this, inevitably, would lead to a brain drain in Malaysia.
“I urge the MoH to look into ways to retain the ‘good brains’ in this country,” he pointed out.
The press conference here yesterday was also attended by SUPP Dudong chairman Wong Ching Yong, Dudong SUPP Youth chief Benjamin Tian, and political secretary to chief minister Teng Ung Woo.