KUCHING: Bandar Kuching Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Kelvin Yii said he has not received any report or information about contract doctors protesting at any government hospital or clinic in his constituency so far.
“I am in Parliament now and I am not aware of any contract doctor based in Kuching, including those at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), going on strike,” he said when contacted today.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune, he said he respects the rights of every worker, including healthcare workers, and therefore, he feels it is alright for the contract doctors to go on a strike, to voice out their dissatisfactions.
“I know this is a longstanding issue, thus, I respect their decision or their action to send a message (to a particular person or group), demanding fair and reasonable treatment,” he said.
“But, of course I also urge them to take into account the safety and security of the patients at the hospitals. If they want to do it, plan it properly and do it without affecting the patients,” he added.
Dr Yii also hoped the Health Ministry would not take any action against the doctors who participated in the strike but find ways to solve the issues promptly and amicably.
“Instead of taking action against them, the ministry must work harder and find ways to address the issues constructively.
“This is something that has been affecting healthcare workers, especially the young doctors for years,” he added.
As an MP, Dr Yii said he has been raising the same issue on numerous occasions, fighting for the contract healthcare workers in the past. He assured that he is still committed to pushing and helping the Health Ministry to resolve the issue.
The ‘Mogok Doktor Malaysia’ Instagram page claimed a group of 8,000 contract government doctors are planning the strike from April 3 to 5 to protest “unfair systems” and “low wages”.
The doctors said they will go on strike by taking medical or emergency leave as a protest against the unfair treatment. However, they said they did not encourage demonstrations or flash mobs.
The group wants the ministry to grant all contract medical officers permanent posts and an increase in the on-call rate.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said all the government hospitals have been put on alert for a possible three-day strike by contract doctors from today, to ensure no disruptions to the operations of the ministry’s health facilities and health services.
The ministry had issued reminders against the strike via a circular by the Public Service Department director-general, and those who participated in the strike would be subjected to the civil servants’ integrity and public service etiquette.
Dr Zaliha announced that a high-level committee comprising key ministries and government agencies, namely the Health Ministry, Public Service Department, Finance Ministry and Higher Education Ministry, will be set up to tackle the contract doctors’ woes.
She had said the issue was an ongoing one and inherited from the previous government, following the contract doctor scheme introduced in 2016.
The ministry, she added, had resolved several issues over the period, such as creating permanent positions, sponsoring specialists’ training, time-based promotions, special grade promotions and creating the UD56 grade for medical specialists.
