Improve working conditions to retain doctors, govt told

A health policy researcher says the 2027 budget should have placed greater emphasis on preventing chronic diseases through education and programmes encouraging behavioural changes. (Rawpixel pic) PETALING JAYA: The government's offer of more permanent positions for contract doctors must be complemented with measures to improve their retention in the public health system, says a public health researcher.

Ilyana Mukhriz, a research associate at the Khazanah Research Institute, said permanent appointments alone would not resolve the challenges of retaining doctors even though they were a significant step towards improving job security.

"One budget allocation cannot fix it all, but the next steps should be to ensure that doctors have decent working conditions, clear communication of career progression potential, more adequate permanent senior posts using cluster- and merit-based warrants as well as fair remuneration," she told FMT.

She said doctors posted to rural areas should also have adequate living quarters, rest facilities and access to basic necessities.

Ilyana Mukhriz. The government announced in the 2027 budget estimates tabled on Friday that more than 9,000 contract doctors would be offered permanent positions next year. Doctors who successfully complete their housemanship would also be offered permanent appointments as medical officers.

But Ilyana pointed out that some doctors had previously failed to report for duty despite receiving permanent offers. Last week, health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said only 63% of medical officers offered permanent postings in Sabah and Sarawak this year had reported for duty.

On a separate matter, Ilyana said the 2027 budget should have placed greater emphasis on preventing chronic diseases through education and programmes encouraging behavioural changes.

"If we do not tackle the rise in chronic diseases, we will end up spending more in future to provide curative care," she said.

She also called for better procurement and maintenance of medical equipment because "some hospital assets were beyond repair".

The Galen Centre health policy think tank said converting existing contract doctor posts into permanent positions would not necessarily increase the number of healthcare professionals delivering services.

Its CEO, Azrul Khalib, called for a funded, multi-year recruitment and retention programme and the establishment of an independent health services commission to improve recruitment, deployment, remuneration and career progression.

He said the 2027 budget had missed an opportunity to undertake structural healthcare reforms, as increased spending alone would not solve the problems affecting the system.

“The budget provides relief in several important areas. However, it avoids the difficult decisions necessary to make healthcare sustainable, affordable and accessible over the next decade,” he said.

The budget estimates contain an allocation of RM47 billion for the health ministry, a slight increase from the RM46 billion for 2026.

Other measures include more than RM770 million for modern medical equipment, RM200 million to outsource patient treatment to other hospitals to reduce waiting times, RM1.2 billion for maintenance of public healthcare facilities, the introduction of the MediAsas medical insurance scheme, and the nationwide rollout of electronic medical records.