Healthcare workers stretched to the limit and very tired

PETALING JAYA: The crushing weight on healthcare workers in the country is set to get worse, with a recent informal survey finding that only 5% of healthcare facilities operate with adequate manpower.

Health advocates said this is a telling sign that healthcare workers may not be able to cope for long.

Referring to the findings of an ad hoc poll by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) concerning house officers, medical officers and specialists, Hartal Doktor Kontrak spokesman Dr Muhammad Yassin said the activist group had predicted this years ago.

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“Almost all healthcare facilities are operating with insufficient staff, pushing their capacity to the limit. This will inevitably lead to burnout and resignations, and exacerbate existing problems,” he said when contacted.

Dr Muhammad said there has been a lack of action to address issues related to poor working conditions and mistreatment of junior doctors by superiors.

Therefore, he said, it was time for a Health Commission to be established so that the Health Ministry can manage its own manpower needs.

“Currently, too much time is being wasted on resolving simple issues. For instance, consider the ongoing debates surrounding the parallel pathway fiasco, while the myCPD (Online Monitoring Continuing Professional Development) website has been down for months,” he added.

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Independent healthcare advocate and former contract doctor Dr Sean Thum said while 117 respondents is a very small sample size, which may not represent the actual situation in its entirety, it at least gives a snapshot of what was currently going on.

“These are warning signs that healthcare workers are finding it hard to cope due to a lack of manpower.

“The Health Ministry has to be transparent about the number of healthcare workers at facilities nationwide, to ensure that proper remedies can be taken early,” he said.

Dr Thum said the lack of manpower will lead to physical exhaustion and subsequently burnout among healthcare workers.

“This will be detrimental to patients as tired healthcare workers are prone to making mistakes. This translates to poorer healthcare outcomes,” he added.

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The survey received a total of 117 responses from workers in various government healthcare facilities, including hospitals and health clinics across the country.

Participants in the survey were from Sabah (20), Sarawak (19), Johor (14), Kedah (13), Perak (10), nine each from Negri Sembilan, Penang and Selangor, Kuala Lumpur (seven), Pahang (four), Terengganu (two) and one from Perlis.

As for the factors contributing to the lack of manpower, nearly half (48.3%) of the 117 respondents said doctors were quitting (28.8%) or being transferred to another facility (13.6%).