‘KEEP HEALTHCARE SECTOR ALLOWANCE’
MMA proposes Healthcare Service Commission to promote efficiency and quality
THE Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has welcomed the government’s decision to postpone a plan to end critical service allowances to new professional civil servants next year.
MMA president Dr N. Ganabaskaran said thousands of junior doctors, dental officers, pharmacists, assistant medical officers and nurses in government healthcare facilities would be affected if the Public Service Department (PSD) proceeded with this move.
He said the association appreciated that the government was giving time for this matter to be discussed in its cabinet meeting next month.
“We need long-term solutions to these issues, which have been talked about and reported by auditor generals.
“Budgets spent on workforce are an investment. Workforce morale must be looked into. Low motivation and feelings of being underappreciated will affect the delivery of healthcare to the people,” Dr Ganabaskaran said.
“MMA is proposing that the government look into setting up a Healthcare Service Commission for the healthcare sector, tasked with independently promoting and driving improvement, as well as increasing efficiency and productivity in healthcare delivery and public health workforce management, including the setting of remuneration scales and promotion rules.”
A Dec 20 circular from the PSD announced that the government would stop giving the Critical Service Incentive Allowance (BIPK) to new recruits of 33 professions starting next year.
PSD deputy director-deneral (development) Datuk Suhaime Mahbar said BIPK was introduced in 1992 to attract graduates to the public service due to low recruitment in certain sectors.
“Critical does not mean that the job is difficult, but that it is hard to get the expertise required for it.
“For example, there were few medical graduates back then, so the allowance was introduced to attract them to the public service.”
“However, nowadays we received 24,756 applications for medical officer positions, exceeding the employment requirement of 15,268.”
Suhaime added that other working positions affected were architects, marine officers, engineers and pilots, as the number of applicants exceeded the vacancies.
He said the abolition of an allowance was not a new phenomenon, as it would be reviewed every five years to determine its necessity.
Twenty-seven allowances had been abolished, merged or rebranded since 1992, as they did not meet the granting criteria.
Among them were the Good Conduct Allowance, the Snake Poisoning Allowance, Special Stenographer Allowance, Mail Train Allowance, and Accountant Encouragement Allowance.
“The government will always consider the application and review public sector allowances based on certain principles. ”
Suhaime did not rule out the reintroduction of BIPK to attract more experts in new fields in the public sector in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Commenting on the call for medical officers to continue to receive the allowance due to workload constraints, he said many were unaware of their eligibility for 22 other allowances and facilities based on their assigned tasks.
These included Hospital Administration Allowance, Medical On-call Allowance, Flexible Working Hours Allowance for Graduate Medical Officers and Specialist Incentive Payment.
Following a backlash, the government has agreed to defer this move until discussions in the next cabinet meeting.