MP calls for answers on looming doctor shortage

 

The Malaysian Medical Association has said 4,000 contract doctors were being transferred to new permanent postings.

PETALING JAYA: Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong has urged the health ministry to explain an impending doctor shortage in Melaka hospitals, said to have been caused by the transfer of trained doctors by the end of this month.

Khoo said he hoped the health ministry as well as the Melaka health department could come forward to explain the reality of the situation.

“We are worried that it would severely affect services to the public and add an unfair burden to existing staff. The ministry must look into the issue and take effective measures,” he said in a Facebook post.

Khoo was commenting on a complaint by the Malaysian Medical Association about the transfer of 4,000 contract doctors for permanent placement elsewhere. The MMA had described the transfers as “negligence at the highest level”.

MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said the association has also received complaints from medical officers that they have yet to receive their official letter of placement, less than three weeks from the day to report for duty by July 31.

Yesterday, FMT reported that the internal medicine department of a major hospital in Melaka has announced a reduction of services due to an anticipated manpower shortage later this month.

The hospital’s internal memo, posted on MMA’s social media platforms, said the shortage was due to contract medical officers being posted to hospitals outside the state upon their permanent appointment.

A check by FMT on the health ministry’s eHousemen system showed that none of the public hospitals or health clinics in Melaka was available for the estimated 4,200 doctors looking for work. The three main hospitals in the state are Hospital Melaka, Hospital Alor Gajah and Hospital Jasin. - FMT