KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded with contract doctors nationwide to offer their understanding of the government’s ability to absorb them for permanent positions under the Health Ministry.
He said for now, the government is only able to fork out an additional RM1.7 billion for this purpose.
“I hope they can understand that there is no intention to look at this matter lightly as the contract doctors have been serving well and sacrificed their time and energy, and the country do need them.
“We added RM1.7 billion and that is the maximum that we can afford (for now),” Anwar told the Parliament today during the Prime Minister’s Question Time.
Anwar further explained that in the Budget 2023, the allocation for emolument given to the ministry was RM19.7 billion, this is an increase of RM3 billion compared to 2022.
He added that the RM3 billion includes RM1.2 billion for annual salary increments, RM600 million for contract staff addition allocation, and RM1.1 billion for the appointment of permanent positions absorbed from contract employment.
For 2023, he said that for additional contract doctors absorbed as permanent positions, the allocation given for this is RM1.7 billion, on top of the RM3 billion increment in emolument.
He was responding to Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Madius Tangau who asked about the total of contract doctors absorbed as permanent positions and the financial implications involved in this exercise.
“So that’s why I’m pleading [with the contract doctors], while the demands are reasonable, that they have worked for a long time, the problem has also been delayed for a long time.
“This year, to solve all at once we can’t afford to do so. So what the government has done is add on RM1.7 billion from the RM3 billion emolument, for 2023.
“If this can be solved in three years’ time, it will make it possible for us to absorb 12,800 contract doctors [in that period], because we have absorbed 4,300 contract doctors this year as the total is 20,333 doctors in training — 12,800 are housemen, that is not included in this category,” he said.
“And once more, I would like to thank them for their readiness to serve although there is a weariness of them being absorbed as permanent positions now,” Anwar said, referring to contract doctors.
Last week, a group calling itself Mogok Doktor Malaysia said it has asked doctors to take emergency or medical leave from yesterday until tomorrow as a sign of protest against low wages and an unfair system.
The group is demanding the absorption of all contract medical officers into permanent positions, basic salary increments, higher on-call rates, and an automatic reduction in the compulsory service term for medical officers to three years. It is also calling for a reduction in on-call and work hours for medical officers and house officers, and for specialist shortages to be addressed.
