A total of 163 contract medical officers serving in Selangor had resigned since January this year to date, according to Selangor Health director Dr Shaari Ngadiman.
Asked for comments on reports of contract doctors in Klang Valley resigning under extreme pressure from the spike of Covid-19 cases, Shaari (above) made no reference to the heavy burden faced by health personnel on the frontline in Selangor.
Instead, he attributed the resignations to a list of other reasons.
"Firstly in current times, if we can see, they quit to serve at vaccination centres that offered higher emoluments.
"Secondly, their families have clinics that they can inherit," said Shaari during a joint Health Ministry press conference in Putrajaya today.
He further claimed that there were those who had "lost interest" in the medical profession and chose to change careers.
"They are no longer interested to be medical officers.
"There were medical officers who I met and they became photographers [...] there were those more interested to work in computer shops because they said they can earn three times more income," Shaari said.
"It means there were various reasons medical officers left their contract service," he added.
A contract medical officer from a Klang Valley hospital, who recently tendered his resignation with 24-hour notice, previously told Malaysiakini that at least 15 doctors at a public hospital have resigned in the last two weeks.
He was confirming accounts by Hartal Doktor Kontrak, a group lobbying for better treatment of contract doctors, that some are leaving due to pressure.
Two of the resignation letters shared were a 24-hour notice by contract doctors.
Among the reasons cited were burnout and gloomy prospects, despite having given their all in fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The doctor who spoke on conditions of anonymity also shared a personal account of incidents that had led to his resignation.
'No spike in resignations'
Meanwhile, Health Ministry secretary-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah, who was also present at the press conference with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba and Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said there was no significant increase in the number of resignations this year.
"From the data that we have, from 2014 to 2020 we see approximately the same number of medical officers who resigned, a total of 900 people, citing similar reasons as mentioned earlier (by Shaari).
"So we are not seeing a higher trend," said Shafiq.
He added that the ministry is of the view that most medical officers will remain loyal to their profession, particularly amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also expressed hope that Putrajaya's offer to contract medical officers as announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin earlier today, days ahead of a planned nationwide strike, will provide the ministry with the time needed to meet the main demand for permanent positions.
Muhyiddin in a statement said the government has agreed that contract doctors, dentists and pharmacists would receive perks similar to permanent positions, including a fully paid study leave to do their specialisation.
The cabinet also agreed to extend contractual appointments for a maximum of four years to medical officers and dentists who are accepted to further study in specialisation during their first two-year contract.
On top of these, the prime minister said the government would improve the benefits that are offered to the contract officers, including entitlement to special duties leave, tuberculosis leave, and fare to visit their hometown.
In its response, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) welcomed the contract extensions as immediate short terms step taken by the government.
"However, we wish to stress again that this is not a solution to the problem as this pandemic has shown how critical healthcare workers are and therefore more positions should be created for permanent posts.
"Besides this, the current proposal of a contract extension needs to be reviewed as other factors that may delay specialisation should be taken into account," said MMA president Dr Subramananiam Muniandy in a statement.
"We look forward to working closely with the prime minister and Health Ministry on the holistic development of a medium and long term plan for healthcare worker's employment in the government healthcare system," he said.
The MMA had previously distanced itself from a planned nationwide strike on July 26 by the Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement and instead launched the Code Black solidarity campaign. - Mkini
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