KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Dozens of medical officers (MOs) at Taiping Hospital who were absorbed into permanent service in 2022 have yet to receive promotions to UD48/UD12 that were due in October 2025.
An anonymous Taiping Hospital medical officer told CodeBlue that the entire cohort of MOs who were made permanent in 2022 is affected, estimated at about 40 to 50 doctors, although some have since transferred to other facilities.
These MOs received permanent appointments four years ago at UD43/UD10, the same grade when they were serving under contract.
The MO said the doctors were informed by the hospital’s human resources officer that they would likely have to wait until around June or July 2027 for their promotions, as the application process would take about a year from presentation to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) headquarters in July 2026.
The delay is reflected in a September 10 response by Taiping Hospital deputy director (management) Hafizah Ahmad to a SISPAA complaint filed by an affected MO with the Public Service Department (JPA).
The complaint ID in Hafizah’s letter differs from the ID in another SISPAA complaint, indicating that more than one affected MO had complained about the matter. Both documents were sighted by CodeBlue.
Hafizah said the promotion application had been presented to the MOH’s promotion committee on July 23, before being submitted to JPA on July 29 for consideration by the Public Service Promotion Board.
“The promotion letter will be issued as soon as a decision is obtained from JPA,” she said in her September 10 letter.
An MO from an October 2023 batch, who lodged a separate SISPAA complaint on August 18, 2026, said they had been following up with the hospital administrator handling the matter since last year, but had waited almost a year without the promotion being resolved.
The complainant said other officers from the same service cohort at other facilities had already received their promotion letters.
The SISPAA complainant said they were among the first doctors placed under the contract system and had waited almost eight years for their first promotion. “I have been waiting for almost eight years to receive my first promotion,” the complainant said.
The complainant also raised concern that the administrative delay could affect the effective date of the promotion and related service benefits.
The anonymous Taiping Hospital MO who spoke to CodeBlue said contract MOs take considerably longer to reach UD48/UD12 than those who start their careers as permanent MOs.
“For contract MOs, it takes about seven to eight years of service before they get UD48/UD12 – two years as a house officer, two years as a contract MO and three years as a permanent MO,” the MO said.
“By comparison, MOs who are permanent from the beginning take about four years – two years as a house officer and two years as an MO.”
If the 2022 batch of doctors at Taiping Hospital are only promoted in June or July 2027, after they were made permanent in October 2022, this means they would have waited nine years for their UD48/UD12 promotion.
The MO estimated that the monthly salary difference between UD43/UD10 and UD48/UD12 could be about RM2,000, although CodeBlue could not independently verify the figure.
Based on rough calculations, if the promotion is backdated to October 2025 and only takes effect in June or July 2027, each affected MO could be owed about RM42,000 to RM44,000 in salary arrears, based on the estimated RM2,000 monthly difference.
It remains unclear whether the affected MOs will receive backdated salary adjustments to October 2025 if their promotions are approved.
The anonymous MO also told CodeBlue that all MOs from the 2022 cohort were called to meet Taiping Hospital director Dr Khuzaini Abd Karim on Wednesday, after CodeBlue requested comments from the latter on the issue on Tuesday. (Dr Khuzaini didn’t respond to CodeBlue).
According to the MO, the doctors were warned against leaking information to CodeBlue and told to accept the delay because there was apparently nothing that could be done to expedite the promotion process.
“They were asked to forgive HR for the mistakes made, as everyone is human and mistakes can happen,” the MO said.
Besides the hospital director, CodeBlue also sought comments from Perak state health department director Dr Feisul Idzwan Mustapha, Perak state health executive councillor A. Sivanesan, and MOH Putrajaya on the delayed promotions and whether other hospitals in Perak were affected.
Neither Dr Feisul nor Sivanesan responded to CodeBlue. MOH’s communications unit acknowledged CodeBlue’s queries, but didn’t provide an official response.
JPA’s communications unit told CodeBlue that the matter was under MOH.
