Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has stressed that his ministry will not approve transfer applications for 20% of the 600 medical officers who want to move out of Sabah and Sarawak
He explained that although the Ministry of Health is reviewing each transfer application, not all can be approved without affecting the health services in East Malaysia which is currently facing a critical shortage of manpower.
In fact, he added, it has been proven that many specialists who initially refused to be sent to Sabah ended up staying on for more than 10 years, showing the potential to adapt if given the opportunity.
In an effort to reduce the burden of vacancies, the government is also considering a new incentive scheme to attract and retain doctors in Sabah and Sarawak.
So far, there are 650 permanent job vacancies in Sarawak, but only seven medical officers have chosen to fill them.
Commenting on the concerns raised by many regarding the Rakan KKM programme, Dr Dzulkefly stressed that no queue privileges will be given to patients who choose paid services under the Rakan KKM programme, thus rejecting claims of “queue cutting” in public health services.
According to him, the programme only focuses on elective procedures and was created to provide more choices to patients, as well as help retain specialist talent in the public health system.
Earlier, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) questioned whether the programme would give an advantage to the wealthy and add pressure to the existing health system.
