Working with GPs better option
REFERRING to Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad’s announcement that Klinik 1Malaysia (K1M) would be renamed Klinik Komuniti and its services enhanced, the Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia (MPCAM) would like to point out that plans to enhance the K1M system has been spoken about so many times in the past few years that it has become a tedious subject.
When general practitioners (GP) met former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in April 2018, he agreed that the government should not compete with GPs but instead buy services from them.
He also agreed to stop setting up more K1Ms after the GPs highlighted the issues involved, which he claimed the Health Ministry never told him.
Najib was impressed with the Peduli Sihat scheme and wanted to introduce the same after the general election but under a different name.
It looks like the Pakatan Harapan government now wants to re-brand the former administration’s K1M.
The cost to maintain one K1M may be far higher than buying services from GPs whose clinics already have doctors, nurses, medicines and other medical infrastructure in place.
Furthermore, the community would already be familiar with the local GPs in their vicinity.
If K1M is enhanced, it must comply with the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHFSA). After all, what’s good for the goose must also be good for the gander.
Furthermore, the enhanced K1M must not duplicate the services of the GP in the neighbourhood. It should instead complement the services of the GP. This would be the start of a good public-private partnership.
K1Ms that do not comply with the PHSFA should be closed down.
Has the Health Ministry done a cost analysis to determine whether it is cheaper and more efficient to outsource the provision of medical care for the local community? Has it considered rental, staffing, salary and utilities, among others? Having worked all these out, wouldn’t it realise that it would be more cost-effective to buy services from the under-used GP clinics?