Materia Medica Malaysiana

Government Hospital Specialists To Charge Fees Soon

KANGAR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Medical specialists in government hospitals will soon be allowed to charge fees for treating patients who are able to afford their services.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said the scheme would be implemented in the Putrajaya Hospital and Selayang Hospital in Selangor as a pilot project.
If the effects were positive, it would be extended to specialists in all government hospitals, he told reporters after opening the RM100,000 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Unit building at the Beseri Health Centre here Friday.
"The charges would probably be similar to the fees in private hospitals and payments would be made directly to the specialists who provided the treatment," he said.
There are about 3,000 medical specialists out of the 9,000 doctors serving in government hospitals.