POLICE do not expect a contract doctors’ strike this morning to threaten public order, the Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said.

He said police will monitor the doctors, who are planning to go on strike at govenrment hospitals, to ensure health precautions are taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“Police have not received any information that the protest will affect public order.

“We will, however, deploy standard operating procedure (SOP) monitoring teams to observe the protests,” Acryl said in a statement.

About 5,000 contract doctors are planning a walkout at 11am today although the government has offered solutions to the matter of their employment which lies at the heart of the strike.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced that the government will extend by a maximum four years the contract of medical officers and dentists who have been accepted for specialist training.

The Hartal Doktor Kontrak group behind the protest had rejected the offer as “half-baked” and said that it was not the solution they were looking for.

Doctors at Serdang Hospital in Selangor yesterday told The Malaysian Insight they were warned not to take part in the protest today.

They said the warning came Selangor Health Director Dr Sha’ri Ngadiman who warned police are ready to arrest any healthcare workers who defy the order not to stage the walkout.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday reminded doctors of the oath they took.

Noor Hisham told the doctors a strike could affect many patients’ lives and the doctors’ careers. 

In recent days, several doctors in the Klang Valley have given 24-hour notice, citing burnout, lack of career opportunities, overload and stress as Covid-19 patient load increases.

Data from MOH showed that between December 2016 and May, 23,077 contract medical officers in UD41 grade were selected for graduate training and compulsory service 

However, only 789 of them were offered permanent positions, leaving the rest in limbo. Many of them have applied for jobs overseas. – July 26, 2021.