PETALING JAYA: A senator said an “ailing” Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) was in need of a massive reform, following three lawsuits against the council and calls for changes to be made.
Dr RA Lingeswaran has also asked the health ministry to explain why an important medical regulator like the MMC has not filled the vacant CEO’s post for close to a year.
He claimed that MMC is currently led by an acting CEO who has no experience of managing such a major organisation.
“Although health director-general Dr Radzi Abu Bakar is also MMC’s president, his primary role at the ministry takes all his time and concentration.
“Therefore, I have also proposed that the current move to amend the Medical Act 1971 must include a separation of powers between the two posts,” said Lingeswaran, who is a former director of the Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang.
He said that ideally, the MMC president and CEO must both be experienced doctors, with clinical and hospital management experience, to ensure effective management of health services.
Recently, six specialists from the Universiti Sains Malaysia pathology (medical genetics) pathway jointly sued MMC for not recognising their course to enable them to be placed in the National Register for Specialists (NRS).
A Malaysian neurologist in Hong Kong and a local medical college are also embroiled in a legal tussle with the regulator.
The USM students and the neurologist have managed to obtain leave to have their cases heard on June 20 and April 16, respectively, while Lincoln University’s case is pending at the Federal Court.
Separately, calls for MMC to be revamped have come from the Malaysian Medical Association, the Hartal Doktor Kontrak group, which advocates for the welfare of junior doctors, and the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia.
Lingeswaran said there is a possibility that a group of cardiothoracic surgeons who obtained their specialist qualifications via the parallel pathway programme may also take the MMC to court.
He said the fiasco where MMC refused to recognise surgeons qualifying from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh under the ministry’s parallel pathway programme had caused an international embarrassment for Malaysia.
“Not only did the Edinburgh college president write a strongly-worded letter to the health minister, senior diplomats from the British and Irish high commissions also met Dzulkefly Ahmad to convey their concern over non-recognition of specialists programmes from medical colleges there,” he said.
He said these actions clearly indicate potential shortcomings in MMC’s administration and leadership especially at a time when the demands in healthcare are rising with a rapidly ageing population.
He said according to a job vacancy announcement by the MMC last year, the CEO must possess a minimum of 15 years of relevant work experience for the role, adding that the post should not be left vacant or merely be filled by an acting head.
Lingeswaran suggested that the law be amended for the position of MMC president to be filled through an election, instead of being automatically assigned to the busy director-general.
“We should take a cue from the General Medical Council of the UK where the chair is not held among the four chief medical officers in the UK. Separation of powers is important to maintain high standards in terms of qualification of medical personnel,” he said. - FMT
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