KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said today that the Ministry of Health (MoH) will carefully deliberate on the implementation of the “Waktu Bekerja Berlainan” (WBB) system during a three-day retreat aimed at addressing key healthcare issues.
The retreat, which is taking place in the city and will run until January 19 will focus on human resource challenges, service delivery improvements, and the unequal distribution of healthcare workers. The proposed WBB system will also be part of the discussions.
“MoH is hosting a retreat involving its top leadership, and it will address critical issues, including human resource challenges, service delivery improvements, and the unequal distribution of healthcare workers. Deliberations on the WBB proposal will also take place,” he told reporters at today's press conference.
He explained that the WBB system is a new work scheduling proposal developed through targeted engagement sessions with MoH personnel.
These sessions, which began on January 22, 2024, were held across various departments in selected healthcare facilities and included participation from medical officers and specialists.
“The proposed system aims to complement the existing on-call and shift systems for medical personnel,” Dzulkefly said.
“WBB is designed to reduce fatigue, improve the quality of life and welfare of medical officers, and enhance service delivery to the public.”
Dzulkefly also highlighted key implementation targets, including reducing active on-call duty hours from a maximum of 33 hours to 18 hours per session, ensuring that no medical officer works more than 24 consecutive hours, and reducing weekly working hours to a maximum of 72 hours per week.
Currently, medical officers can work up to 99 hours per week due to three on-call sessions.
