I wish to raise a concern regarding the career progression of medical officers under the Ministry of Health (MOH).
I have been working as a doctor in the public health care system since May 2017, starting from my housemanship. This means I have now served for almost nine years.
However, I only received my permanent appointment on July 31, 2023, after waiting approximately six years for permanent employment.
Based on my permanent appointment date, I expected to be eligible for promotion to UD12/UD48 on July 31, 2026, after completing three years of permanent service.
Unfortunately, I have now been informed by MOH that my promotion cannot be processed because I am currently on Cuti Belajar Bergaji Penuh (CBBP) under the Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP) programme and therefore do not have a Laporan Nilaian Prestasi Tahunan (LNPT) score.
According to MOH, my promotion can only be processed after I complete my CBBP, obtain one LNPT assessment, and fulfil the other promotion requirements.
I am honestly very saddened and frustrated by this situation.
I have served the government for almost nine years, but I’ve not been able to progress in my grade largely because I had to wait approximately six years just to obtain permanent appointment.
Meanwhile, colleagues who joined the service much later than me have already received permanent appointments and, after three years, progressed to UD48.
I understand that every promotion must follow the relevant rules and requirements. I am not asking for preferential treatment.
However, it is difficult not to feel disadvantaged when years of service have not translated into corresponding career progression.
I am also pursuing postgraduate training under HLP because I want to further develop my expertise and contribute more effectively to the public health care system.
It is therefore disheartening that this training may result in another delay in my career progression.
I hope CodeBlue can look into this matter and seek clarification from MOH or the Public Service Department (JPA), particularly on whether there is any mechanism to prevent medical officers like me from being disadvantaged due to delays in permanent appointment and postgraduate training.
I hope this matter can be highlighted, as I believe there may be other medical officers experiencing similar circumstances.
The author is a medical officer. CodeBlue is granting the author anonymity because civil servants are prohibited from writing to the press.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
