By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 15: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian has backed the Malaysian Medical Association’s (MMA) proposal to the government to increase the consultation fees for private general practitioners (GPs) to at least RM60.
In a Suara Sarawak report, he said a review of consultation fees is much needed as young doctors prefer to migrate overseas for better pay, adding that the consultation fees of GPs have not changed in 30 years.
“If they are not paid well, they will migrate. In the end, we will lose out,” he said during a programme at the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) today.
Dr Sim, who is also the Minister for Public Health, Housing, and Local Government Sarawak, said it is timely to review consultation fees as the increase in medical costs was not due to doctor’s service fees but other factors.
“The increase in medical costs in recent years is not due to doctor fees. These fees are regulated by law and cannot be increased at will,” he said.
In a Bernama news report on March 14, the MMA expressed hope the revision of private GP consultation fees by the Health Ministry, set to be announced before May 1 this year, will be appropriate and fair.
Its president, Datuk Dr Kalwinder Singh Khaira, said MMA believed that raising the consultation fee to a minimum of RM60 would be fair and appropriate, while the upper limit should be based on studies conducted by the National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL) under the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Last year, on December 27, the Society of Private Medical Practitioners Sarawak also called for an urgent revision of GP consultation fees.
The society has said that the stagnant rate threatens the sustainability of private clinics and the quality of primary healthcare services in Malaysia. — DayakDaily
