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Extending clinic hours requires more manpower – MMA
The initiative, its president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said, was a good step toward reducing overcrowding at public hospitals and clinics.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has urged the Health Ministry to ensure sufficient manpower was in place before implementing extended hours at its health clinics.
The initiative, its president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said, was a good step toward reducing overcrowding at public hospitals and clinics.
However, he emphasised that for it to be successful, there must be enough medical officers and administrative staff available –working at reasonable shift hours.
Muruga Raj (above) added that the extended hours should be catering to acute illnesses that do not require specialist care.
According to him, many public clinics are often burdened with administrative work apart from their clinical work and this may contribute to brain drain.
“The additional hours may also mean that staff will have to work longer hours and this may run counter to the ministry’s efforts to address burnout among healthcare personnel,” said Muruga Raj, in a statement today.
Offering solutions, Muruga Raj urged the Health Ministry to rope in more private general practitioners (GPs) through public-private collaboration.
“The ministry will be able to extend its reach through such a move as we have over 9,000 private GPs well distributed throughout the country; which may be more convenient.
“Many of the chronic cases can be referred to private and public clinics to enable public hospitals to treat accidents and emergencies more efficiently and effectively,” Muruga Raj concluded.
Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa urged state health directors to consider extending operating hours at public health clinics to help alleviate overcrowding at hospital emergency rooms.
She also announced that the ministry is offering nearly 5,000 permanent posts this year to medical, dental and pharmacy officers and advised the directors to connect staffing or human resources with job rotation to prevent burnout among the officers.
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