Letters

Doctors deserve humane working conditions

LETTERS: The sorry state of our public healthcare has been highlighted in the past. But, it appears that the plight of our medical professionals is being ignored.

There does not seem to be any urgency in resolving the issues and our doctors and allied medical professionals continue to leave the civil service in their quest for better remuneration, working conditions and mental wellbeing.

Not only are their salaries and allowances meagre, their workplace environment is far from conducive and humane, infested with bullying and high-handed and authoritarian leadership.

The Health Ministry laments the shortage of medical specialists and yet, newly graduated specialists from the Parallel Pathway are not given assistance to begin their gazettement without delay.

To become a medical specialist in Malaysia, doctors have to either undergo a sponsored four-year master's programme at local public universities or a self-financed Parallel Pathway programme offered by the Royal Colleges of the United Kingdom, Ireland, or Scotland.

Both pathways require the doctor to work full time, including on-call duties. However, unlike the master's programme, candidates who undertake the Parallel Pathway, finance their own studies and are not eligible for any study leave. Thus, they sacrifice a great deal of their time, money and resources.

On passing the Parallel Pathway, the doctors are required to undergo a 18-month gazettement period. However, before they can be assigned their gazettement posting, their logbooks and other documents must be signed off by their departmental heads, and this is where they face blockades and roadblocks.

There are many department heads who refuse to sign off the logbooks and just delay this process for reasons best known to them.

The result is doctors who have passed their Parallel Pathway examinations but are left in the lurch for long periods, which can drag to a year in some cases.

Obviously, this situation creates undue stress and frustration. And many just opt to leave. The ministry is aware of this problem as all doctors who intend to undergo the Parallel Pathway are mandated to first register as a trainee with the Medical Development Unit.

Then, we have the issue of on-call allowance. A medical officer is paid RM200 for working 32 hours at a stretch during weekdays and RM220 for being on duty on weekends and public holidays. Specialists are paid RM230 for weekdays and RM250 for weekends and public holidays.

To clarify further, being on-call means they report for work at 8am and continue to be on duty until 5pm the next day. They are on their feet all the time and rarely have adequate time to have meals and perform their prayers.

They are human and they must be treated as such. Tired, stressed and burnt out doctors are a threat to the wellbeing of patients. Doctors cannot be faulted for any lapse in service and treatment as it is the system that is faulty, not the doctors.

There are many other issues with our public health service, and unless these are resolved soon, the exodus of health professionals from the public sector will continue.

And, the people will suffer the consequences due to no fault of the medical professionals.

ROZITA HAJI SIRAT

Kajang, Selangor


The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times

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