THE Health Ministry (MOH) has approved 4,053 out of 8,672 initial applications for permanent positions involving contract medical and dental officers and pharmacists for this year, its minister Khairy Jamaluddin said. 

He said it covered 3,215 medical officers, 438 dental officers and 400 pharmacists, while there were 225 candidates on the standby list. 

“This is the highest addition of permanent positions since 2016 when the contract policy started and after this, we have (requested) at least 1,500 permanent positions every year, which we will offer to contract officers,” he added.

Khairy said this at a press conference after appearing as a panel member at a dialogue session called ‘The Future of Our Healthcare’ in conjunction with the 2022 Health Policy Summit today.

He said MOH would hold talks with the Public Services Commission (SPA) to determine the policy on whether those who were unsuccessful in applying for a permanent position could reapply or not.

“I do understand that some will be disappointed, and that is why MOH will look into the matter after our discussions with MMA (Malaysian Medical Association) on career options for those who could not be absorbed as permanent staff, to at least ensure that they were given good incentives and opportunities for specialised and sub-specialised training. 

Meanwhile, Khairy said the MOH would also be looking at a suitable model to determine whether a health service commission should be established by law or administratively.

He said although the matter was not the main focus of the ministry at the moment, it would nevertheless be discussed in the Health White Paper, which is expected to be tabled in parliament at the end of the year. 

“If you are to ask us (MOH), of course we would want our own commission so that we would not be subjected to regular SPA policies. An example would be that (currently) if we fight for certain allowances, we are subjected to policies under JPA (Public Service Department), which means this policy must be in tandem with other (public) services. 

“We go one step at a time… We want our own commission but the question of when to push for this can be discussed during the drafting process of the Health White Paper,” he added. – Bernama, August 16, 2022.