PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry will come up with a report and state its stand on the issue of housemen working extended hours by the end of the month, its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pix) said.
He said he took note of the complaints by the junior doctors and that the ministry has been continuously addressing the perennial issue, but hoped to put the matter to bed for good.
Dzulkefly said the ministry would also address claims of medical officers using fear tactics against housemen, including freezing their leaves, and the issue of long working hours involving its non-administrative staff like ambulance drivers.
“We will have an immediate report. And once we are ready, we will issue a statement. We will get this out by the end of this week or next. We are looking into it now,“ he told a press conference today.
“We have taken all the complaints into our attention. When we respond later, we will provide you with all the necessary information, feedback, and our position on the matter,“ he said when pressed further.
theSun had on Monday reported that housemen were being asked to work over 16 hours on some days, with no overtime payment, and only getting a single day off each week, with many trainees also claiming to have little to no time for meals and breaks.
This has raised concerns that the doctors may not be at their best, both physically and mentally, when attending to their patients, while also putting their own safety at risk with insufficient rest.
Commenting on the issue, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah explained that unlike previously, where housemen were required to be on call for 24-hours, the new shift system of 8am to 5pm, and a subsequent on call duty up to 10pm, was less absorbing and tolling.
He said the after-5pm tagging duty, which requires a group of housemen to tag along with medical officers, was necessary to prepare them for life as doctors on call for 24 hours on some days.
Noor Hisham, however, explained that the main issue lies on the implementation side of things, noting that some hospitals were still not practising the new shift system, and that some did not have the housemen work in groups, which meant they have little rest time.
“We will address this and monitor to see if all the hospitals fulfil this implementation. It’s no longer 24 hours on call, but an 8am to 5pm shift duty, followed by tagging up to 10pm,“ he said.
Asked if the ministry intends to amend the current working hours of up to 10pm and reduce it, he said: “We are not changing the system. The implementation is the problem.”
