Govt decision no panacea for ills afflicting contract staff, say pharmacists

 

Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Amrahi Buang said there is no clarity on the timeline for implementation of the new remuneration.

PETALING JAYA: The Cabinet decision on medical professionals has missed the primary objective of securing job security, standardisation of salaries and benefits, and lack of transparency in appointments to permanent positions, according to the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS).

It said the mere extension of one more year of contract is just a stop-gap solution to the long-standing issue faced by the 5,000 contract pharmacists in the country.

MPS president Amrahi Buang said no clarity had been provided on the timeline for the implementation of the terms of remuneration for their upgrading.

“Our stand is that there is a need to appoint pharmacists to the UF43 grade for those who have served for at least three years.

“The grade harmonisation plan should be detailed out with a clear timeline to prevent the issue going through the same bureaucratic hurdles that contract pharmacists have faced since 2016,” he said in a statement.

Amrahi Buang.

Amrahi was commenting on the government’s decision to offer contract doctors, dentists and pharmacists a two-year contract of service and fully sponsored study leave to pursue specialisation.

Amrahi said more transparency was needed on the criteria for appointing contract officers to permanent positions as these were not clearly defined, with practically everyone left in the dark.

He also said MPS was disappointed that its representative had not been included in all the discussions so far, including at the meeting the prime minister held with the Malaysian Medical Association last week.

“MPS is a major stakeholder in the welfare of contract pharmacists and should have been included in any policy-making plans. It’s only fair that we be represented at such major discussions in future,” he said.

Amrahi said Malaysia faced a shortage of pharmacists, with the majority of district hospitals, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, not operating for 24 hours.

“This may result in a higher probability of medication errors for patients admitted throughout the night. We cannot take this risk,” he said. - FMT