Govt must consider all contract appointments, not just medical officers - Cuepacs

 

The government should not focus on the issue of contract medical officers alone because there are many other posts within the government that still operate on a contract basis, the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) president Adnan Mat said in a statement today.

Adnan claimed that there are “tens of thousands more posts in the Health Ministry (MOH) and other ministries that still have contract status and are just waiting to be terminated”.

“In the MOH itself, apart from contract medical officers, there are other positions that are critical and still have contract status such as nurses, assistant medical officers, assistant environmental health officers, environmental health officers, public health assistants, community nurses, radiographers and laboratory technicians.

“These people are also in a critical sector and need to be given equal attention by the government.

“The creation of additional positions for doctors must also take into account the need for additional positions that provide support as a unit such as nurses, assistant medical officers and others,” he said, adding that the delivery of public health services would be imbalanced without the support of these individuals.

Cuepacs’ statement comes after the cabinet declared that it was reviewing the issue of contract medical officers this week.

Fighting for the plight of contract doctors, the Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement began when a group of contract medical officers declared on Twitter at #HartalDoktorKontrak that they would go on strike by the end of July, should the government fail to resolve issues caused by the current contract system.

The contract system for medical officers was implemented in late 2016 to address the country’s then surplus of medical graduates.

On June 27, the congress recommended that the Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement be discontinued, due to fears that it will badly impact the country’s healthcare system - which is currently in a dire state.

At the time, Cuepacs was reportedly prepared to help resolve the issue as liaison and was of the view that contract appointments should not be practised for civil servants, especially for critical services such as the health sector.

In his latest statement today, Adnan said that the financial constraints faced by the government should not hamper efforts to absorb staff members as permanent staff members because it is a necessity now and in the future.

“Currently, there are still many areas where there is a lack of medical facilities and staff to ensure that these facilities run smoothly,” he said.

Using the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry as an example, he noted there were roughly 1,200 price monitoring officers within the ministry whose contracts are likely to be terminated at the end of this year. - Mkini