Azrul Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, said it is not “business as usual” with a manpower shortage in health facilities and widespread disappointment among professionals in the public health sector.

“As patients pour into hospitals and clinics, workers are forced to choose between caring for themselves and their patients, which is incredibly unfair,” he told FMT.

He said many doctors and nurses are leaving for the private sector, deciding to work in another country or start a new career altogether.

Azrul was commenting on a survey by the Malaysian Medical Association which showed that 95% of public health facilities are short-staffed.

A senator, Dr RA Lingeshwaran, recently said heath ministry data showed that 3,046 contract doctors had resigned over the past three years.

Azrul said that some doctors work 30-hour shifts, leaving many junior doctors, housemen or medical officers physically and mentally exhausted.

“The government must convene a special task force immediately to discuss what’s happening,” he said.

Dr Wong Yen Jun, a lecturer at Monash University Malaysia’s School of Pharmacy, said fewer workers handling the same workload leads to burnout, reduced care quality and higher safety risks.

“Evidently, these challenges affect not only doctors, but also pharmacists, nurses, medical assistants, and others.”

Wong called for the establishment of a health service commission to manage manpower distribution and planning.

“We need the Madani government to show us that they care for the national health system,” she said.

On April 22, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad announced that Putrajaya is finalising the study of the proposal for a health service commission to be set up.

Last year, then health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said details on the setting up of the commission were being finalised to settle matters related to service schemes, especially for medical professionals and doctors.