NOT everyone wants to be a specialist and some doctors are content with their jobs as medical officers, a spokesman for the Hartal Doktor Kontrak group said.

Dr Mustapha Kamal A. Aziz said the Health Ministry must look at the bigger picture.

Hartal is fighting for permanent posts for contract doctors. It organised a walkout for hundreds of healthcare on July 26 as a sign of protest against what it viewed to be an unfair employment system.

“It’s a dynamic process and has to be looked at on a bigger scale. Not everyone wants to be specialists. Just as in any other field, some people are happy staying put where they are. For instance, a medical officer may want to stay on in the same position. That said, the pathway to specialisation must be addressed,” Mustapha told The Malaysian Insight.

“The lack of specialists is nothing new. The problem has been there even before the contract system started. But this system further exposes problems in the Ministry of Health. It’s a symptom rather than the disease,” he added.

Mustapha said specialist training will only be possible for contract medical officers if the government decides to make the entry system flexible.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin recently told the Dewan Rakyat that the country is not facing a shortage of doctors but specialists.

The minister said 28,000 specialists will be needed by 2030 as the population ages and the incidence of non-communicable disease increases.

Currently, there are 13,000 specialists in public healthcare and private practice.

Mustapha said the group hopes to see Khairy soon to discuss the issues affecting the contract medical officers.

On whether a second Hartal strike is on the cards, he said they would give Khairy a chance to resolve the contract doctors’ problems.

“Khairy has promised to resolve the issue within 100 days. We will wait. It’s unfair to him if he is not given the chance to show what he can do with his new portfolio,” he said.

The contract system was introduced in 2016 when there were more new medical graduates than there were vacancies.

Citing ministry data, Khairy recently said that there were 23,096 contract medical officers, only 19 of which were specialists.

Khairy said that between 2009 and 2015, there were 3,000 medical graduates a year. However, from 2016, the numbers increased to 5,000-6,000 per annum, resulting in the introduction of the contract system.

Contract medical officers are given equal emoluments as permanent staff. They are also given other benefits such as leave, medical benefits and living quarters.
 
On July 14, the government decided to extend the contract term by another two years for those who had completed two years of service.

They will also be given further extension if they are accepted to pursue specialist training.

The government is also looking to extend the federal sponsorship programme for contractual medical and healthcare workers to further their studies. This is currently available for those who are permanently employed.

The Health Ministry is also working with the Public Services Department, Treasury, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Higher Education Ministry and other agencies under a special committee to come up with short to long-term plans to resolve the contract doctors’ problem. – September 18, 2021.