The Ministry of Health reviewed the practice of ‘on call’ duties

PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is revising some existing practices such as on-call assignments that are too long as a measure to deal with workload and past fatigue among front-line staff at hospitals.

According to Bernama, the Minister of Health, Datuk Deri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said, the Ministry of Health also took other steps to deal with existing challenges including optimizing the distribution of patients with cluster hospitals, establishing public-private collaboration for outsourcing activities and deploying staff to departments that are more in need.

“The Ministry of Health also extends the operating period of health clinics to reduce the burden on hospitals in addition to identifying workforce gaps through a supply and demand survey that is being done in collaboration with the World Bank.

“However, even if we intend to increase our human resources, Malaysia’s health resources are limited.

“The construction of a resilient and sustainable health system requires a comprehensive and long-term financing strategy,” he said in a statement.

The statement was in response to a report by a health portal on June 3 regarding the situation of medical officers at government hospitals having to deal with uncertain work schedules.

He said, in line with the MOH’s paradigm shift from treatment to proactive disease prevention, Malaysians are called to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

“This is especially important following the disclosure of the prevalence rate of non-communicable diseases (NCD) which is quite serious in the findings of the latest National Health and Morbidity Survey.

“I call on the health professionals of the Ministry of Health to continue to be patient while the planned transformation can be implemented. The understanding and continued contribution of all parties is greatly appreciated, especially to make the positive changes that are being made a success,” he said.

According to Dzulkefly, the Ministry of Health is committed to addressing the issue seriously, at the same time assuring continued strengthening of strategies as needed, including by creating a balance between work and life as well as a more equitable wage structure.