KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — The government has finally approved the promotion of contract doctors and dentists, who have long complained about discrimination and smaller salaries than their permanent counterparts.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced today that UD41 contract medical officers would be promoted to Grade UD43, whereas UG41 contract dental officers would be promoted to UG44.
The grade adjustment involves a total of 21,408 medical officers and 697 dental officers, who will receive their promotion offers from February 25, after approval by the Finance Ministry and the Public Service Commission on February 24.
“Notification of this offer will be forwarded to the relevant officers via their respective emails,” MOH secretary-general Shafiq Abdullah said in a statement today.
“With this grade adjustment, it is hoped that officers can further increase their motivation and commitment to perform their duties more efficiently, including participating in curbing and dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The contract system for doctors first came into effect in December 2016 amid a glut of medical students, but sparked discontent among contract medical officers over their smaller salaries and an uncertain future after their two-year compulsory service.
MOH also said today that the Public Service Department (JPA) on February 4 and the Ministry of Finance on February 10 have approved applications to extend the contracts of 585 medical officers, 1,071 dental officers, and 1,966 pharmacy officers. They will also be getting a notification on this via their respective emails.
Previously, medical officers who were maintained on the UD41 civil service grade were paid a difference of RM664 monthly compared to their higher paid UD44 permanent counterparts, which amounted up to RM 7,968 per year, excluding yearly increments.
