Medic wants 'wage theft' at university hospitals to stop

 

A medical officer is urging for action against what they say is “wage theft” at university hospitals, where officers are not compensated for weekend on-call work.

This comes after Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) confirmed with health news website CodeBlue that doctors doing “weekend rounds” there are not compensated unless they are on the official on-call schedule.

Dr Timothy Cheng said this goes against a Health Ministry circular that states that doctors who work more than four hours over the weekend are eligible for “passive on-call” claims.

“Getting a doctor to work on a Saturday and Sunday and telling them ‘you cannot claim’ is essentially saying that they have to work for free,” he said.

Cheng added that UMMC is not the only university hospital depriving doctors of their “passive on-call” claims.

“Immediate action should be taken to stop this nonsense - just because doctors have been tolerant, it does not mean it is the right thing to do!

“I urge heads of university hospitals to look into these fundamentals.

“In the chase for world rankings and research publications, we should not be neglecting such issues!” Cheng, who did his undergraduate and postgraduate training at UMMC, said in a letter to CodeBlue.

Although writing in his personal capacity, Cheng is an elected member of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and the secretary of its Section Concerning House Officers, Medical Officers, and Specialists (Schomos).

UMMC: Claims only if on authorised list

“Passive on-call” refers to being on standby, whether or not one is called for duty.

The rates differ between specialists and medical officers, the amount of time spent working, and whether it falls on a weekend or public holiday.

At UMMC, specialists and medical officers are paid RM150 and RM130 respectively if they are on standby and are called in to work for more than four hours on a weekday. On weekends and public holidays, the rates are raised by RM10 respectively.

If they are on standby but are not called, or called in to work for less than four hours, the rate is RM50 less on weekdays and RM55 less on weekends and public holidays.

However, a doctor who spoke to CodeBlue anonymously said while they may be on duty for four hours on paper, doctors have to stay well beyond that to manage cases.

He said on average, doctors perform three to four passive on-calls per month, while some do up to seven a month due to a lack of human resources in certain postings.

Failure to compensate for all hours worked means doctors lose up to RM980 a month for hours in which they essentially work for free, the source said.

In its response, UMMC said “only individuals who are included in the authorised on-call schedule for each department are eligible for the (on-call payment, known by its Bahasa Malaysia acronym, Etap). The current guidelines do not allow claims for weekend rounds as part of the Etap.” - Mkini