KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — The Selangor state health department (JKNS) has addressed manpower shortage claims at Ampang Hospital, after a specialist doctor raised a string of resignations of medical officers.
JKNS acknowledged that 20 medical officers from various departments at Ampang Hospital quit in just under six months since last January, but pointed out that 26 new medical officers reported for duty at the major specialist hospital in Selangor in the same period.
“More than 95 per cent of permanent medical officer positions at Ampang Hospital are filled. There are also 80 contract medical officers at Ampang Hospital,” Selangor state health director Dr Ummi Kalthom Shamsudin said in a statement last Saturday.
“Ampang Hospital management is continuously working at addressing the shortage of medical officers to prevent disruptions to health service delivery.”
In a recent letter to CodeBlue that was shared widely on social media, a specialist at Ampang Hospital described the “vicious cycle” of manpower shortages driving the resignations of medical officers at the tertiary hospital.
Consultant nephrologist Dr Rafidah Abdullah said on X last Saturday that JKNS’ statement should have reported the number of medical officers actually needed in a hospital, rather than the percentage of positions filled.
A copy of JKNS’ statement posted by Dr Rafidah mentioned that 26 medical officers at Ampang Hospital had quit since last January, higher than the 20 cited in the press release posted on JKNS’ Facebook page.
“If we were to deliver good quality healthcare services, state and hospital pengarah must change the way they look at service delivery. I am certain YBMK @DrDzul wants to see better quality reports & transparency to inform members of the public,” Dr Rafidah said.
