KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The Ministry of Health is preparing a projection on the number of doctors to be appointed on a permanent basis.
Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin (Photo) said the projection would be submitted to the Civil Service Department (DSP) and the Ministry of Finance.
“I don’t know if we can absorb everyone who is under contract for a permanent position, but we start with the needs projection first … I’m sure with this projection we can work on how we can absorb them in permanent service, ”he said.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Azizah Mohd Dun (Bersatu-Beaufort) during question time to the Minister. Azizah wanted to know the financial implications if the government appointed all contract doctors to permanent positions.
Khairy said that since the end of 2016, more than 24,000 medical graduates have been appointed on a contract basis, but only 1,000 of them have been offered permanent positions.
Meanwhile, when tabling the 2022 budget, Khairy said the government had agreed to continue with the contract appointment of 10,583 doctors, dentists and pharmacists, involving an allocation of RM 336.35 million.
He said that out of the total 4,186 officers had been assessed and could be recommended to the PSD for a permanent appointment.
They involve 3,586 doctors, 300 dentists and 300 pharmacists, and would require an allocation of RM 377,485,089.
Apart from that, Khairy said the government also provided RM100 million in sponsorship for specialized programs that would benefit 3,000 medical and dental contract agents.
He said a special committee had also been set up to find a long-term solution to the problem of contractual appointments, which included the need to amend several laws, such as the medical law and the dental law.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health and the PSD are continuing their discussions to amend the pension law to determine the advisability of offering permanent and more sustainable appointments to doctors, dentists and pharmacists through the employee provident fund scheme.
Khairy said this in response to a question from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) about the government’s actions in response to the second wave of Hartal Doktor Kontrak, a movement of health ministry contract doctors, and financial implications to the government if contract doctors were absorbed into permanent positions – Bernama
