PUTRAJAYA: The Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) system, which will limit shifts for doctors and dentists in public healthcare to 18 hours but would result in a reduction in on-call allowance, is still in the proposal stage, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
“It is still deemed as a proposal and has yet to reach me (minister level), let alone the Public Service Department (PSD).
“Unfortunately, it was somehow leaked, maybe on purpose, maybe not,” Bernama quoted Dzulkefly as saying.
He was responding to Hartal Doktor Kontrak’s (HDK) call for the ministry to immediately retract the plan to introduce the WBB shift system.
HDK said in a statement yesterday that the plan has caused outrage among the medical community as the ministry announced it without prior engagement with key stakeholders.
Dzulkefly said the WBB is part of an ongoing effort aimed at improving the services and welfare of the staff and personnel under the ministry.
Every proposal, whether good or bad, is bound to raise concerns, he said.
Therefore, he said any plan to implement such proposals will have to be thoroughly evaluated and involve consultations specifically with hospitals, specialist doctors and heads of departments.
It was reported on Wednesday that doctors and dentists at selected government healthcare facilities will see their on-call shifts capped at 18 hours, down from the current limit of between 24 and 33, under the pilot project that starts next month.
Their on-call allowance rate has also been raised by between RM55 and RM65 as announced in Budget 2025.
However, with the WBB system, their take-home pay will be less as they will only be able to claim for active calls on weekends and public holidays, and not for weekday shifts.
According to a circular signed by the ministry’s medical development division director Datuk Dr Mohd Azman Yacob, the ministry had tabled the WBB system to PSD on Dec 5, 2024.
Mohd Azman said the WBB is being introduced to improve officers’ quality of life and to ensure doctors attending to patients are not exhausted from long working hours.
Under the WBB system, the active on-call rates for weekdays and public holidays are RM275 for medical officers (MOs) and RM315 for specialists.
As for the current system, MOs are entitled to an active on-call allowance of RM220 on weekends and public holidays and RM200 on weekdays.
On another note, Dzulkefly announced that the findings on the death of a pathology specialist in Lahad Datu, Sabah, is expected to be released next month.
He confirmed receiving the final report by the independent task force, led by Tan Sri Borhan Dollah, and the findings would be made public after being presented to the Cabinet soon.
“The deceased’s family has requested an explanation and clarification. I will ensure their request is fulfilled before releasing the findings to the public.
“That is my promise: we will be transparent,” he said after distributing spectacles under the refractive screening and vision correction sponsorship programme for B40 and M40 Year 1 pupils at SK Putrajaya Presint 9, here yesterday. Also present was Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
On Aug 29 last year, the death of the pathology specialist went viral on social media.
The victim’s brother claimed his sister was subjected to mistreatment by her department head at Hospital Lahad Datu and faced immense pressure from the workload in the unit.
