Health Ministry called to consult healthcare professionals on on-call shift system


PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry should consult medical groups which represent healthcare professionals such as the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) to find a solution to the Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) system, says the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs).

“Cuepacs is of the view that this has to be solved professionally at the negotiation table and not on social media so that the healthcare service to the people will not be affected,” its President Datuk Dr Adnan Mat said in a statement on Sunday (Jan 19).

Adnan advised healthcare workers to extend their full cooperation with the ministry by not making any provocative statements that can disrupt the working relationship between the superior and subordinates.

He also called on all parties to give Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and the ministry’s top management space to resolve the issues that had been raised so that a win-win situation can be achieved.

“Give the minister a chance to solve the problem without any unnecessary pressure such as threats and others,” he said, adding that Cuepacs had an engagement with Dzulkefly on Jan 6.

Dzulkefly said last week that he was not aware of the circular, adding that it was still in the proposal stage.

The Health Ministry is expected to decide on the WBB after a ministry retreat that ends on Sunday.

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 with the Public Service Department 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.

Their on-call allowance rate has also been raised by between RM55 and RM65 as announced in Budget 2025.

However, with the WBB, 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.

Under the system, the active on-call rates for weekdays and public holidays are RM275 for MOs and RM315 for specialists.

The pilot run will begin at seven hospitals on Feb 1 for three months. It will be expanded in the second phase, which will include surgery and anesthesiology.

The third phase, which will begin later this year, will be the stabilisation and observation phase.

In response, the contract doctors’ movement Hartal Doktor Kontrak has called for the immediate retraction of the WBB shift system circular.

In a statement on Thursday (Jan 16), it said this had caused “unprecedented outrage” among the medical community as the ministry announced it without prior engagement with key stakeholders.

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