Study on Indonesian nurse hires must safeguard public interest: Dzulkefly

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has emphasised that any outcome of the study on the recruitment of nurses from Indonesia must take into account the interests of the people.

Additional factors include the welfare of Health Ministry staff and the effectiveness of the country’s healthcare delivery system.

He said the ministry would extend its full cooperation to the Public Service Department in facilitating the study, which was proposed by the Public Service Commission (PSC) following a suggestion from Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Johor Bahru, Sigit S Widiyanto.

“The Health Ministry will continue its work to overcome the shortage of nurses through a multi-pronged approach, as stated before. Admittedly, no quick fixes to overcome this arguably self-inflicted dire strait situation,” he said in a post on X today.

He said the shortage of nurses had been compounded by several factors, including a two-year suspension of new intakes at the Health Ministry Training Institutes during the Covid-19 pandemic and a moratorium on private nursing schools, which was only lifted in 2024.

At the launch of the PSC Madani Career Carnival 2025 in Putrajaya, PSC chairperson Ahmad Jailani Yunus said a comprehensive study must be conducted before implementing any proposal or policy to hire Indonesian nurses for government hospitals.

The proposal gained traction after the Johor state government, through its Health and Environment exco Ling Tian Soon, publicly welcomed the proposal for a strategic corporation with Indonesia to address the shortage of nurses in Malaysia, particularly in the state.

Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi had earlier pointed out that major hospitals in Johor Bahru were facing a serious and critical shortage of healthcare manpower, with some nurses having to manage more than 10 to 14 patients per shift, compared to the ideal ratio of 1:6 or a maximum of 1:8.

- Bernama

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