Bemban assemblyman Dr Yadzil Yaakub, a medical doctor, said the new system was more burdensome to healthcare workers with their on-call allowances denied despite the shorter hours.

Yadzil, the Melaka opposition leader, warned the ministry that it would struggle to attract doctors and nurses to the public healthcare sector.

“I urge the health ministry to cancel the implementation of WBB, which provides no benefits whatsoever to healthcare workers.

“A toxicologist would never understand the job of doctors and healthcare workers. Only doctors can understand,” he said in a swipe at health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad, who is a toxicologist by training.

Yadzil also claimed that the health ministry’s engagements with stakeholders on the WBB were merely window dressing. He claimed these sessions were simply to explain the ministry’s plans for the system rather than to obtain feedback.

The WBB aims to address the long-standing issue of excessive work hours among healthcare professionals, some of whom work up to 33 consecutive hours or clock 99 hours a week.

However, doctors working such hours are not entitled to on-call allowances.

A leaked Jan 10 circular by health ministry medical development division director Dr Azman Yacob stated that the first phase of the new system would take effect on Feb 1 and involve eight departments across seven government hospitals.

Dzulkefly initially responded by saying he had not been briefed on the system or given his approval, and that it was a “recommendation” still being fine-tuned.

Yesterday, he said the proposed system was only an optional addition to the current system to meet the needs and capabilities of public hospitals.

The minister said the WBB would be introduced as a pilot programme, and that engagement sessions with medical officers involved in the trial would be held to obtain their views.

However, he said the ministry’s medical advisory and action committee would decide soon whether or not the pilot phase would proceed on Feb 1.