SIBU, Jan 22: Six more medical officers (MOs) have had their contracts with their respective hospitals terminated for no apparent reason, bringing the total to 10.
The six had reported their predicament to SUPP Education Bureau after it had on Jan 18 disclosed that four MOs’ contracts were terminated after two years.
Speaking at a press conference today, Dudong SUPP chairman Wong Ching Yong said the plight of these six where two were medical officers and four dental officers were similar to the first case in that no reason was given by the MOH as to why their contracts were not renewed.
The six were serving in hospitals and clinics in Selangor, Sibu Jaya, Sabak Bernam, Sandakan, Sungai Buloh and Labuan. It is understood that one of the doctors had passed Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) part 1 radiology, there were no disciplinary issues and one of the MOs even scored over 85 in their appraisal report.
The bureau noted that Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had on Jan 19 said he would personally investigate the unfair discontinuation of the four MOs’ contracts.
On Jan 18, the Bureau disclosed that four MOs where two of them, Dr Wong Woan Hui and Dr Bong Ing Hui were with Sibu General Hospital (SGH). Both had on Nov 13, 2019 received a letter from the Health Ministry saying that their contracts would not be renewed.
The other two doctors were serving at Hospital Sultanate Nora Ismail in Johor and Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan in Pahang, respectively.
“We hope that the Minister will act quickly to right the wrongs to end the unfairness and the anguish caused to these doctors ,” he said.
SUPP suggested the following proposals :
(1)The MOH must respect the recommendations of the local hospitals which know best the actual situation on the ground. The Sibu General Hospital had on November, 19, 2019 recommended that Dr Bong and Dr Wong be given extended contracts. There was no response from the MOH in KL. SUPP Education Bureau deeply regretted the callous attitude of the MOH in KL.
(2) For hospitals in Sarawak, Sarawak MOs should be given the priorities when coming to the confirmation of permanent posts in Sarawak hospitals.
“We also strongly support the suggestion of our party president Datuk Seri Dr. Sim Kui Hian to the federal government that Sarawak should be given back its autonomy in the administration of its health administration which was taken back in the 1980s. We support Dr Sim’s appeal that the contracts of Dr Bong and Dr Wong be extended immediately to enable them to continue their postgraduate studies,” he said.
Wong said the present policies of MOH was discouraging overseas students from return to serve in Malaysia.
“If the present policies remain unchanged, who wants to come back to Malaysia?” he asked.
The bureau urged the HOs, MOs, parents of the young doctors and dentists and the general public to sign the petition at the following website http://tiny.cc/i7dviz.
According to Wong, the petition was to highlight the travesty of justice and raise public awareness to gain strong support for the case. —DayakDaily
