It’s time to fix contract scheme, say doctors

PUTRAJAYA: A decade on since the contract system was introduced, doctors say it is now time to end it.

Hartal Doktor Kontrak spokesperson Dr Muhammad Yassin said the contract system has done “so much damage to the nation’s healthcare system”.

“Hopefully by having better job security, more doctors will stay and remain in the Health Ministry and more students will be interested in pursuing medicine and boost the number of doctors in the Health Ministry,” he said. 

MMA SCHOMOS chairman Dr Timothy Cheng said putting doctors on a permanent scheme will ensure that the duration of their service is not wasted and salary increment will be faster.

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It will also help with retention of talent, he said. 

“It’s quite ironic that the contract system that began in 2016 drove a significant number of doctors away from Malaysia, and now the very shortage it created has made it possible to finally end it.

“We’re going in circles when this could have been avoided if the Malaysian government had taken action earlier,” he said. 

“Under the contract system, years of service are effec­tively wasted when a doctor becomes permanent, which can result in lost experience and delayed career progression.

“Making all doctors’ positions permanent is long overdue. It will mean faster salary increments, better job security, improved retention, and most importantly, a morale boost that will strengthen patient care in our public healthcare facilities,” he added. 

Retired Health Ministry director Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said the contract system was only meant to be a temporary recruitment measure. 

The government, he said, must ensure that there are adequate permanent positions for doctors and they are offered a reasonable salary scheme. 

“The current contract system is not really fair for junior doctors  in terms of benefits,” he said. 

The system that saw new healthcare workers hired under contracts was announced under Budget 2017. It was rolled out to  address the glut in medical graduates.

At that point, it was meant to be a temporary stop gap solution to clear the backlog of medical graduates waiting too long for placements in government.

It began with over 2,000 medical, dental and pharmacy graduates serving the government on a  contractual basis and the numbers have grown to some 30,000 now.