KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Scores of medical officers failed to report for duty for permanent positions last Monday across various government hospitals and clinics in Sabah and Sarawak.
Posting on social media, government doctors reported either zero medical officers (MOs) reporting for duty at their facilities or fewer than the number of assigned postings.
“Twenty MOs were in the list for reporting for duty at Sri Aman Hospital today (September 28). As of 10.45am, only six safely arrived,” a doctor posted on Facebook last Monday. This is equivalent to a 70 per cent no-show rate.
“Welcome. All residents in the Sri Aman division and Southeast Sarawak cluster welcome your arrival to serve here. The rest may be resting at a Lachau petrol station.
“Joking aside, this is the current state of MOH (Ministry of Health) human resource. Aside from chasing HLP (Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan), there really isn’t any attraction to continue staying in MOH. Even the regional allowance was cut. I myself would think many times if I were in their position.”
The Regional Incentive Payment (BIW) allowance wasn’t abolished, but changed from a progressive salary percentage to a fixed rate in December 2024. A medical officer previously wrote to CodeBlue that the new fixed BIW monthly allowance of RM360 for medical officers didn’t actually amount to much because receiving that allowance meant an automatic cut of the RM300 monthly Bantuan Imbuhan Sara Hidup (BISH), leaving staff with just an additional RM60.
Many anecdotes about doctor no-shows for permanent positions in Sabah and Sarawak were also shared on Threads.
Kanowit Hospital reportedly saw zero MOs reporting for duty for permanent positions, with just three MOs left running the entire facility. “Even some hospital daycare got more MO than them,” a person posted on Threads.
In Miri Hospital, of 35 MOs who reported for duty for permanent appointments, 16 were new while the rest were contract MOs already serving in the facility. However, a doctor complained about the paediatrics department getting only two new MOs.
“At this point, I’m starting to think manpower allocation is a very advanced form of mathematics. Back to continuing being a rare Pokemon species in MOH.”
In the Kapit divisional health office, nine doctors were transferred out while two came in. “There are only five MOs in Klinik Kesihatan Kapit,” a person posted on Threads. “Luckily we got two additional people, not a lot, but still some.”
Besides Sarawak, Sabah also witnessed a lack of doctors reporting for duty for permanent posts.
Keningau Hospital reportedly saw zero MOs reporting for duty last Monday. The Sabah facility now has fewer than 10 MOs running each department: surgical (five), medical (eight), orthopaedics (six), paediatrics (six).
“Other departments are the same; single-digit MOs,” a person posted on Threads. “Just shut down this hospital.”
Beluran Hospital also reportedly witnessed no doctor taking up their permanent posts. “When we called the PTJ (responsibility centre), [it said] everyone rejected [their offers],” wrote a person on Threads.
Another person said zero doctors reporting for duty meant that only six doctors were running the whole Beluran Hospital, including the emergency department, wards, outpatient, referrals, transfers, and escorts to other hospitals.
“‘District hospital’ sounds small until you actually see the patient turnover and the workload. We may not be the hospital everyone talks about, but we’re stretched too,” she posted on Threads.
A doctor at Beluran Hospital, who separately notified CodeBlue about the situation, said the facility was supposed to receive five to six postings on paper. No one showing up would be equivalent to a 100 per cent no-show rate.
Sipitang Hospital also reportedly saw no MO reporting for duty, leaving the facility with just eight MOs.
The Kudat regional health office reportedly received 17 doctor postings on paper for permanent positions, but only four MOs showed up. “MOH isn’t understaffed. MOH is running on whoever turns up,” a person wrote on Threads. This is equivalent to a 76 per cent no-show rate.
Ranau Hospital was reportedly left with just six MOs, after three doctors rejected their permanent appointment offers, leaving just one who reported for duty last Monday. This would be equivalent to a 75 per cent no-show rate.
Beaufort Hospital also reportedly saw only one MO reporting for duty.
A person posted on Threads: “Some of my friends rejected the offer. Can’t blame them though.”
“Can we incentivise those who are willing to do health care in Borneo by paying RM1,000 to RM1,500 more?” another person wrote on Threads.
Some doctors also posted about how Sultan Idris Shah Serdang Hospital in Selangor received 150 new MOs reporting for duty.
“So today is the day of reporting for duty in MOH hospitals. How many MOs did your department get and how many of them didn’t turn up at all? Me first. My dept gotten 0,” a medical officer posted on Threads last Monday.
A person replied, “My old hospital: 12 transferred, one reported for duty. The current hospital: 42 transferred, eight reported for duty.”
A few others replied, “zero” or “one”.
September 28 was set for reporting for duty at a doctor’s new placement under contract status, based on the results of the second phase of the ePlacement intake last August 20.
A letter confirming one’s permanent appointment will only be issued after the MO reports for duty on that date, with the permanent appointment taking effect on October 5, a week after reporting for duty as a contract officer.
This new policy of permanent appointments taking effect a week after reporting for duty, which the government implemented last June 22, was meant to enable medical officers to claim transfer expenses.
The MOH planned permanent appointments of 4,500 medical officers nationwide this year, comprising 328 in the June intake and the remaining 4,172 in the October intake.
Even though relocation allowances were available for the June intake, only 20 of 39 MOs posted to Sabah reported for duty then, Deputy Health Minister Hanifah Hajar Taib told Parliament in July.
She said 560 MOs would be offered permanent positions and posted to Sabah as a whole this year, projecting that 280 doctors would accept their placements based on a 50 per cent no-show rate.
Given that at least three hospitals in Sabah reportedly saw zero MOs reporting for duty for the October intake, Hanifah’s projection of 50 per cent no-shows in the state may very well be exceeded.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad boasted last July about the Madani government’s “successful” delivery of more than 18,500 permanent appointments for doctors in four years from 2023.
His post on X didn’t mention no-shows of more than 1,100 MOs in 2023 (amounting to 20 per cent of those offered permanent posts), besides the 40 per cent nationwide no-shows after that year, as well as the 50 per cent no-shows for Sabah posts in the June 2026 intake.
In 2022, the number of MO no-shows was only 78, or 2 per cent of those offered permanent positions.
It’s unclear how many in the October intake of 4,172 permanent appointments of medical officers across the country failed to report for duty last September 28. CodeBlue has requested data from the MOH.
Overall, it’s possible that despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration offering over 18,500 permanent appointments to doctors since 2023, thousands rejected their offers by not reporting for duty.
Rejecting one’s permanent appointment offer means that the doctor will leave public service at the end of their contract, which isn’t formally recorded as a resignation.
The reported swathe of doctor no-shows across multiple facilities in Sabah and Sarawak last Monday still occurred despite MOH now holding “absolute autonomy”, independent of the Public Service Department (JPA), to directly manage, restructure, and deploy its approved health care posts.
The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy has urged the government to commit, in Budget 2027, to establishing a Health Service Commission with the power to set remuneration, as well as to manage the recruitment and retention of health care workers.
