Health minister to raise nurse uniform issue in cabinet

The Health Ministry will bring up at the cabinet meeting concerns raised by nurses over the quality of uniforms issued to them.

In a press conference today, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad assured that the government is ready to address the matter and provide good working conditions for civil servants in the health sector.

“I have to listen to them and I have to address it positively,” he told reporters after launching the Occupational Safety and Health Day celebration at the Health Ministry in Putrajaya today.

His remarks came after the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) urged the Health Ministry to immediately address the longstanding issue of low-quality fabric issued to nurses for their uniforms.

Before Cuepacs’ statement, DAP lawmaker Lim Guan Eng raised the plight of government nurses who were allegedly supplied with bad-quality fabric to make their uniforms, with some donating them to be used as burial shrouds instead.

Lim said in a speech in Parliament that the issue was recently highlighted by Senator RA Lingeshwaran, and urged the Health Ministry to reveal the companies responsible for supplying the material and whether any action has been taken against them.

Lim claimed that many nurses had to accept the fabric that was supplied to them because rejecting the material would cause them to lose some RM690 in allowances, which are provided by the government for tailoring purposes.

The DAP chairperson then urged the Health Ministry to provide further details to the Dewan Rakyat regarding the contractors responsible.

Nurses' union confirms subpar fabric grouses, seeks feedback

Cuepacs wants MOH to address nurses' poor-quality fabric complaints

Guan Eng raises plight of nurses getting 'burial shrouds' for uniforms