Materia Medica Malaysiana

Move to reduce shortage of doctors

Doctors in private hospitals may soon have to serve a certain number of hours a week in government hospitals, if they want their Annual Practising Certificates (APC) renewed.

This move is aimed at making the shortage of doctors in the public sector less painful.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said: "The ministry will make it compulsory for doctors and specialists in private hospitals to serve and train in government hospitals.

"We want to tap their resources and expertise. Working in government hospitals is also a continuing professional development for them," he said after a dialogue with members of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM).

He said the innovation would be invaluable for government hospitals, as doctors from private hospitals could transfer knowledge and skills to junior doctors and medical students in government hospitals.

There are some 8,000 specialists and doctors in private hospitals today, about the same total as in government hospitals.

But their workload was different as night and day, with only 9,000 beds in private hospitals and 32,000 in government hospitals.

Also, doctors in the public sector treat 48 million outpatients and 1.7 million in-patients a year.

Dr Chua said the plan would take effect only after details had been worked out among the ministry, the APHM and other parties. A committee would be set up to discuss the logistics, he said. Datuk Dr Ridzwan Bakar, president of the APHM, said there were already doctors in the private sector who were teaching and training medical students.