Explain Why Contract Docs Turned Down Permanent Posts Ministry Told

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Contract doctors should consider it a national service and agree to be placed where they are needed, instead of turning down a permanent post, says Dr Subramaniam Muniandy.PETALING JAYA: The health ministry must explain why some 85 contract doctors turned down an offer for permanent posts under Putrajaya’s hiring scheme, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said today.
“Was it only due to logistics?” its president, Dr Subramaniam Muniandy, asked in a statement, referring to the possibility of contract doctors being posted to Sabah and Sarawak.
He said if permanent posts were a priority, then the placement offered should not matter.
These doctors, he said, should consider it a national service and agree to be placed where they are needed.
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy.“Once the pandemic is under control, they should then be allowed to apply for (the) placement of their choice based on the positions available.”
Subramaniam said the association received information that some doctors who had quit government service had received offers for permanent posts.
“While there are many in the system awaiting an offer for a permanent post, it does not make sense why those who had already left the service still received the offer.”
MMA, he said, wanted some clarity on the matter.
On Tuesday, the health ministry revealed that 100 eligible contract medical officers had turned down an offer for permanent posts under the government’s new appointment scheme, with prospective jobs split between hospitals in Sabah and Sarawak.
They were from a group of 300 medical officers who were given the offer, with the remaining 200 accepting it.
According to the ministry, 85 failed to report for duty because they rejected the offer, while 15 had resigned earlier due to other job offers.
Subramaniam said that while the 15 who had resigned earlier represented only 5% of the total posts offered, there was a need for the ministry to pay attention to the figure.
“Why would someone study for five to six years and then resign in a short period? What are we lacking in the system?”
He also called for the ministry to reveal if it had then offered the permanent posts to “other doctors from the same cohort” to fill the 100 vacancies. - FMT

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