MMA to MOH: Address acute manpower shortage at district health centres, clinics

Malaysian Medical Association president Professor Dato Dr Subramaniam Muniandy has urged the Health Ministry (MOH) to urgently address the acute shortage of health workers at district health centres (PKD) and government clinics (KK).

He said continued shortages in personnel would compromises the standard of care and further burnout among healthcare personnel.

“Cases of Covid-19 have already spread into the community and therefore we can expect cases to continue rising in the coming weeks. We can’t afford to wait for the situation to worsen. Immediate steps are needed,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam pointed out that these medical personnel at the district level and MOH clinics were overworked and were being pulled in every direction, iterating that staff at these government departments were struggling to cope with the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Currently, he said, the District Health Officers have been tasked with the daily Covid-19 management duties of triaging, screening, assessing, contact tracing, monitoring and home monitoring of Category 1 and 2 Covid-19 patients.

Apart from this, he added, they also manage acute and chronic non-Covid-19 cases on a daily basis.

“The district health officers feel like they are pulled in every direction and with the surge in cases, the system is on the verge of collapse,” stressed Dr Subramaniam.

He proposed that MOH consider roping in the housemen awaiting posting, medical students, nursing students and also medical assistants with basic medical knowledge and training to help on the ground with contact tracing.

He said the monitoring of Covid-19 category 1 and 2 cases should be digitalised and linked to MySejahtera.

“With proper monitoring and coordination enabled through digitalisation, more private GPs would also be willing to participate in its programmes,” he said.

He also proposed that the ministry go paperless and digitalise as much as possible as it could greatly reduce the time staff are spending on paperwork.

He said more efficient use of time would be needed at PKDs and KKs where persons-underinvestigation (PUI), personsunder-surveillance (PUS) and Covid-19 positive cases being reported were increasing.

“Staff at these PKDs and KKs are overwhelmed therefore processes need to be simplified while the highest standards of care are maintained.

As for the non-Covid-19 cases, Dr Subramaniam said the government should rope in the services of private practitioners.

“A number of these acute and chronic cases, for a nominal fee, can be outsourced to private clinics or private hospitals. This will allow MOH to focus its resources on managing Covid-19,” he said.

“The Health Ministry cannot take on this fight against Covid19 on its own. It needs all the help it can get right now.

“The whole of society and whole of nation approach should be put in practice,” said Dr Subramaniam.