HARTAL Doktor Kontrak is ready to mobilise 5,000 to 7,000 contract doctors for a nationwide strike if the cabinet does not come back to them with a favourable response to their demands, the group’s spokesman said.

Dr Mustapha Kamal A. Aziz told The Malaysian Insight that Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said the issue of permanent posting for contract doctors will be discussed in the cabinet before a decision is made.

Khairy said on November 25 that a solution was needed to solve this issue once and for all.

“We are waiting for the cabinet’s decision on contract doctors,” Mustapha said.

He previously warned that the strike by the contract doctors will be followed by mass resignations.

Mustapha said if the government comes back to the group, then the doctors can decide the best move going forward.

The group has on several occasions demanded permanent postings and fair treatment for all contract medical officers, as the issue stretches as far back as 2016, when the contract system was introduced by the then government.

Dim career prospects, coupled with taxing working conditions, have forced several junior doctors to move overseas in search of better career prospects and work-life balance.

Hartal 2.0 was initially expected to take place on Wednesday. However, it is now on hold pending the cabinet’s decision.

“We have to see what the cabinet decides first before proceeding,” Mustapha said.

The first hartal, held in July, saw hundreds of healthcare workers staging walkouts at hospitals nationwide as a sign of protest against the contract system.

The group had submitted a memorandum to the government demanding permanent positions for all contract medical officers.

Khairy said on November 9 that the government will offer permanent positions to 4,186 contract medical officers.

Only 789 of the 23,077 contract medical officers in service since 2016 have been offered permanent employment. – December 7, 2021.