PETALING JAYA: Filling up permanent positions in Sabah’s hospitals remains a challenge, as the uptake among doctors coming from outside the state is still low.
“The ones already based there are the ones taking up the offers to continue serving in the state,” said a source close to the development.
Another source claimed that vacancies in several hospitals in the state have yet to be filled completely due to doctors not reporting for duty before the Health Ministry’s Oct 7 deadline.
“These hospitals are still facing a shortage, especially because the new intakes were supposed to replace the ones that had been transferred out,” said the source.
It is learnt that more than 100 doctors who were supposed to report for duty in Sabah did not do so, while nine other doctors had asked for a deferment.
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According to data from the state’s Health Department, fewer than 90 medical officers from the peninsula had reported for duty in Sabah.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said on Oct 8 that just over 60% of medical officers who were offered permanent appointments in Sabah and Sarawak had reported for duty, whereby 337 out of 527 medical officers offered placements in Sarawak reported for duty, while 336 out of 528 in Sabah did so.
The figure represents roughly 64% of the 1,055 total placement offers issued for the two Borneo states.
Addressing career progression concerns, Dzulkefly directed the establishment of a dedicated 30% quota for medical officers serving in Sabah and Sarawak who apply for specialist training programmes.
The Star reported on Oct 3 that at least 217 doctors have been transferred out of Sabah hospitals after securing permanent positions.
The highest was in Hospital Queen Elizabeth (45), Sabah Women and Children Hospital (42), Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan (31), as well as Hospital Tawau and Hospital Queen Elizabeth II (both 24).
The Health Ministry, meanwhile, had reminded medical officers appointed under the second phase of permanent appointments to report for duty by Oct 7.
It also noted that the second phase involved 4,255 medical officers who were offered placements through the ePlacement system.
