THE Health Ministry has backtracked on its earlier decision to terminate the services of four young doctors at the Sibu general hospital, by reinstating them after a discussion with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Sarawak Pakatan Harapan chief Chong Chieng Jen, who announced the reinstatements today, said the matter “has been promptly resolved by the Health Ministry by having all the affected medical officers’ contracts extended”.

“I brought the matter up with Lim Guan Eng, who subsequently had a discussion with Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

“The ministry today made the decision to extend the contracts of all the affected medical officers,” Chong said in a statement.

Chong, who is federal deputy domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, did not give any reasons for the ministry’s reversal nor how long the extension of the contract is.

Following their termination in November, two of the doctors had gone to Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Sarawak PH’s political rival, to air their plight.

Dr Wong Woan Hui, 29, who was attached to the obstetrics and gynaecology department, and Dr Bong Ing Hui, 30, with the paediatric department, had previously said no reasons were given as to why their services as medical officers were terminated.

Chong then blamed the terminations on the state minister overseeing health matters in Sarawak, Dr Sim Kui Hian.

Chong said that if Sim, who is state housing and local government minister, had been “more vigilant”, the medical officers would have had their contracts extended before the expiry date.

Sim, in his reaction last Sunday, said what happened to the young doctors was not just a termination of contract but a premature end of their path to specialist training.

He said Wong had only passed part 1 of her Membership to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists paper in February 2018, while Bong had only passed the first part of her attempt to be a Member of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (MRCP – paediatric) in 2018.

To be eligible to sit for their final part of their respective papers, the doctors have to work in an approved hospital for not less than four years. – January 23, 2020.