Dr RA Lingeshwaran, a former director of the Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang, said the new system, Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB), which is set to be implemented in seven hospitals from Feb 1, will provide healthcare workers a better quality of life.
He said the issue has been taken out of context with the lower total on-call allowances the medical officers and specialists will receive under the new system.
Under WBB, the work limit is lower than the current 24 to 33 straight hours from on-call duties.
In singling out Dr Akmal Salleh, Lingeshwaran said the Umno Youth chief should have looked into the details of the initiative before attacking the health ministry.
“His reaction appears to be a populist move,” he told FMT.
He said detractors failed to see that the current allowance for 24 hours’ on-call is RM220 while under the WBB, doctors will receive RM275 for 15 hours, which is the limit set for each active call.
“The maximum number of hours an MO is allowed to work in a week under the WBB is 75 hours, which includes the 45 hours’ mandatory work week. They will get two weekends off each month now,” he said.
He said doctors stand to earn an active call allowance of RM275 plus a passive call payment of RM140 if they are on-call during weekends, which is considered a 24-hour shift.
“So, they can get an additional RM415 for each day of the weekend in addition to the higher monthly pay they are receiving under the new remuneration system for civil servants,” he said.
Lingeshwaran said the lower hours will benefit the doctors greatly as they get to spend more quality time with their families, which will reduce stress.
He said many medical negligence cases in public hospitals have been attributed to long working hours with little rest in between, and the WBB system aims to help reduce such occurrences.
In hospitals which lack manpower, he said, the likelihood of doctors earning more in on-call allowances is high as they might have to be on-call more than the stipulated number of times.
“I understand that the directors of high-density hospitals or departments have the discretion to decide on the call system to implement.
“Right now, it’s only a pilot project in seven selected hospitals. Give them space to implement it. The ministry will surely use the result to tweak or let the current system stay,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Malaysian Medical Association raised concerns over the WBB system, saying it might strain the already overburdened public healthcare system.