Almost every govt hospital, clinic short of doctors - MMA survey

Almost all public healthcare facilities in the country are running with inadequate manpower, a survey by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has revealed.

In a statement, it said a recent ad hoc poll conducted online showed that more than half of the facilities were facing shortages due to doctors quitting or being transferred out.

Hence, the association suggested the Health Ministry conduct a transparent and comprehensive study, as well as raise doctor salaries to be competitive with the private sector, among others.

“According to the poll results, only six responses (five percent) indicated they had adequate manpower, while 36 responses (32 percent) needed an increase of up to 50 percent of manpower and 51 (46 percent) needed an increase of up to 100 percent.

“18 responses (16 percent) needed more than twice the current number of doctors to provide adequate services. There were six responses who were unsure as to how many doctors they needed.

“On the reasons for lack of manpower, nearly half (48.3 percent) of the 117 respondents in the ad hoc poll stated that doctors were quitting or transferring, while 34 (28.8 percent) were because of doctors quitting, and only 16 (13.6 percent) was due to transferring only,” the statement read.

Besides facing brain drain, MMA said its poll showed the facilities also faced some form of equipment failure.

This contributed to the hurdles they faced in providing optimal patient care.

Show the numbers

MMA suggested the government publish a dashboard with the numbers of healthcare workers it has in the system, and stressed the importance of data transparency to the public.

The true extent of manpower shortages, it added, can only be established with proper data.

On remuneration, it suggested the ministry produce “fresh salary terms in alignment with the raising of civil servant salaries to be competitive with private practitioners for all healthcare workers”.

“There are groups of doctors whose contracts are ending this month and in July, but there is no concrete answer as to what happens to them.

“Shouldn’t we be retaining them to help curb the drastic lack of manpower we are currently facing?” MMA added. - Mkini