Despite the acute shortage of doctors, long waiting times for a simple outpatient appointment, longer waiting times for non-emergency surgery, these young doctors are not guaranteed a permanent position in the public sector.
The additional six-month contract extension limits contract workers from getting enough time and training for their specialist programmes, even if they are doing the parallel pathways.
The six-month contract follows a previous six-month contract given last April to 2,070 medical, dental, and pharmacy officers who completed their compulsory service.
MOH offered a one-year contract to nurses, microbiologists, biomedical officers, science officers, medical assistants, and medical laboratory technologists to help curb Covid-19.
Dr Adham Baba says contract officers are chosen for permanent appointments through “strict and continuous evaluation” during their graduate training or compulsory service.
Although JPA has approved 10,675 new permanent posts for the Ministry of Health in phases, only slightly more than half of these positions have been created so far.
The SUPP Central Education Bureau is of the view that MOH should at least have the courtesy and goodwill to reply to the Chief Minister of Sarawak and to all the MOs, DOs and pharmacists on contract.
Reduction of the number of doctors in government facilities will increase the patient-to-doctor ratio, and this directly affects the patient’s waiting time as well.