Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said recruitment was being conducted through the Public Services Commission to ensure adequate staffing.

“Recruitment will be carried out in phases among nursing diploma graduates from public and private universities, as well as from the ministry’s training institutes,” he said in a written parliamentary reply to Sim Tze Tzin (PH-Bayan Baru).

Sim had asked about the ministry’s actions to address the resignations of nurses due to low salaries and the relatively high number of vacant nursing positions.

Responding to concerns about the resignations of nurses due to dissatisfaction with low salaries, Dzulkefly said the health ministry had increased the intake of nursing diploma trainees at its training institutes from 1,000 to 2,000 trainees.

On May 3, Dzulkefly said the shortage of nurses in hospitals was projected to reach nearly 60% by 2030.

To address this issue, he said collaboration between the public and private sectors could help mitigate the shortfall of nursing staff needed to meet the country’s healthcare demands.

In a separate written reply to Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang), Dzulkefly said there were 8,397 gazetted medical specialists under the ministry.

“Additionally, there are 1,276 clinical medical specialists who are in the process of being gazetted,” he said.