As the Malaysia Government had not given a clear response to the contract doctors, these frustrated contract doctors are losing hope in the Malaysia Healthcare system and one after another are handling over their resignation letter to the Government.
The Hartal Doktor Kontrak group took it to their social media to share the 24-hour resignation notices and the reasons they gave were the failure of giving them permanent positions and lack of career progression in the Health Ministry.
Previously, the group had called for contract doctors to go on a strike on 26 July if their issue of permanent placement remained unresolved by then.
According to FMT, a representative from Hartal Doktor Kontrak said that there were not many incentives for contract doctors to remain in public service. This is mainly due to the lack of opportunities for junior doctors to further develop their careers, either through a master’s degree or by taking up a specialisation.
The group had shared multiple photos of the doctor’s resignation and they said that they are too tired facing the current situation and could not take it anymore.
A netizen, called by the name @mustaphakamal93 on Twitter said “Received news that many friends are not just taking emergency leave, they are resigning.”
“It’s clear they are burnt out and disappointed with Health Ministry.” he added.
Among the photos shared was a resignation letter from a Grade UD41 contract officer attached to the emergency and trauma department at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang.
The resignation letter stated 3 reasons which represented what the contract doctors are currently facing and they include not being able to get a permanent post, not qualified to do their Masters and an unclear future.
Another resignation letter then said that the doctor wanted to look for job opportunities in the private sector and further their studies.
It is also revealed that the current contract system limits medical officers to five years’ service in the public sector, after which they will have to move into the private sector or take up specialist training at their own expense.
There are more than 20,000 contract doctors working under the Health Ministry currently and this is a result of a policy to deal with the oversupply of medical graduates since 2016.
In addition, the representative also said that the doctors are entitled to go on leave. However, they wished to continue serving the patients to ensure the public gets the healthcare they need.
“We don’t have any ties to the government or the health ministry.” he added.
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Check out the post from Hartal Doktor Kontrak here:
