Materia Medica Malaysiana

Plan for private wings in hospitals scrapped

The plan to build private wings in public hospitals has been scrapped, due to the high cost and space constraints, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Instead, he is banking on the recently-approved locum scheme to keep government doctors from leaving for private practice.

Allowing full-fee patients, another recent decision, will also help the Government keep its healthcare bill down, he said.

When he first announced the plan in May, Dr Chua had said private wings would have separate facilities from public hospitals.

"The (alternatives) are suitable, and easier to implement than the private wing concept," he said in an interview with the New Straits Times.

Dr Chua said that these moves are addressed at reducing the ministry's operating budget which has risen more than four times from RM1.6 billion in 1990 to RM6.8 billion this year.

Full-fee patients would be charged according to the scheduled rates of the Malaysian Medical Association, he said. Some minor changes are expected to be made to the schedule, as the Government's motive was to complement, and not compete with, private sector services.

Dr Chua said he expected more people would seek treatment at government hospitals, in light of rising private health care costs.

Meanwhile, doctors would be allowed to take 20 hours of locum, or substitute, work a month, standing in for doctors who were off or on leave.

Locum work, currently allowed for emergency units, will also be allowed at outpatient departments. The current rate is RM30 an hour, the same as in private practice.

Four sub-committees, headed by Health secretary-general Datuk Ismail Adam have four months to draw up clear guidelines and a fee structure for doctors taking locum work.

Aside from hours and payments to both doctors and support staff, issues such as monitoring mechanisms were still outstanding. Close monitoring was necessary to ensure treatment was based on clinical factors, not fees, and there was no abuse of the system, he said.

Dr Chua said eventually patients would end up using both private and government hospitals, especially when the Government outsourced more treatment like radiotherapy, nurses' training and laboratory work.

"We even allow private doctors to come and work in government hospitals with payment of RM40 per hour for doctors and RM100 to RM120 for specialists," he added.