MMA urges health ministry to create healthcare workforce dashboard

 MMA says the ministry’s newly granted autonomy over manpower should be accompanied by a transparent, evidence-based workforce planning system.

The health ministry has been given full authority and autonomy to manage, organise and distribute approved positions independently of the public services department effective July 9.

PETALING JAYA:

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has urged the health ministry to develop a comprehensive healthcare workforce dashboard following its newly granted operational autonomy in managing its workforce.

MMA president Dr R Thirunavukarasu said this dashboard would enhance transparency and support evidence-based workforce planning.

“Greater transparency will strengthen public confidence, facilitate better workforce planning and enable more timely interventions to address healthcare workforce challenges.

“Empowering the ministry to manage and deploy its approved positions will enable manpower decisions to be made more efficiently and closer to where healthcare services are delivered,” he said in a statement.

Thirunavukarasu also said the operational autonomy should be viewed as the first step towards broader healthcare workforce reforms, including the establishment of an independent Health Service Commission.

He said such a commission would provide the most sustainable structural solution for coordinating workforce planning, career development and human resource management under a dedicated framework tailored to the unique needs of Malaysia’s healthcare system.

Yesterday, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the ministry had been given full authority and autonomy to manage, organise and distribute approved positions independently of the public services department (JPA).

He said the mandate, granted by JPA effective July 9, would enable the ministry to expedite the placement of healthcare workers where they were most needed. - FMT