THE Hartal Doktor Kontrak group finally had their day with Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to discuss a slew of outstanding issues faced by contract doctors.

Group spokesman Dr Mustapha A. Aziz said Khairy had promised to look into their problems in a virtual meeting today, which was also jointly attended by Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and secretary-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah.

“The meeting was on the contract doctor issue, including specialisation studies, funds and allocation for permanent posts,” Mustapha told The Malaysian Insight.

Khairy also took to Facebook to post on the meeting.

“I was with the secretariat of the Gerakan Hartal Doktor Kontrak to listen to the problems and issues faced by contract health officers,” he said.

Khairy said among the issues raised was the future of contract doctors, the progress of the evaluation for permanent postings and their opportunities to further their studies.

“I have given them the commitment to look into all issues raised and will look for interim solutions and eventually towards a better solution,” he said.

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

Mustapha recently told The Malaysian Insight that not everyone wants to be a specialist and some doctors were content remaining as medical officers.

“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,” he said.

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 Health Ministry. It’s a symptom rather than the disease.”

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

Khairy recently told 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 incidences of non-communicable diseases increase.

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

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. – September 21, 2021.