Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the proposal was among the recommendations of a white paper on the health services drafted by the ministry.

“It contains proposals on what the public want (in the healthcare system) and how we should restructure the system,” Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying.

Noor Hisham said it was also crucial to place the hiring process of medical officers under the health ministry to resolve the issues of contract doctors and permanent positions.

Currently, the process is beyond the ministry’s control. “It is under the public services department (JPA) and the finance ministry in terms of allocations,” he said.

To reduce the waiting period for vacancies to open up and to hire more medical officers, Noor Hisham said the health ministry should offer contracts instead.

He said there were about 5,000 permanent positions on offer this year but he stressed the need for more. However, he acknowledged that it was subject to JPA’s decision.

Currently, the Public Services Commission handles the screening process of applicants for vacancies in the health and medical service.

There are currently more than 23,000 contract doctors in government service who were appointed after the government stopped offering permanent positions automatically. An additional 2,000 to 3,000 new graduates join the health and medical services each year.

Last month, the health ministry announced vacancies for 4,914 permanent posts.
Only contract doctors appointed between 2016 and 2019 were eligible to apply.