Chua hits out at doctors who run down Act

Star: PUTRAJAYA: Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek has hit out at doctors who have been criticising and resisting the Private Healthcare and Facilities and Services Act.
“What’s the huge fuss about? The Act was mooted in 1993, passed in Parliament in 1998, and fully implemented in May this year,” he said.
“The Act has made registration of doctors compulsory. This seems to have provoked the ire of doctors, who find the registration process too cumbersome,” he added.
Dr Chua said that less than 10% of doctors had responded and even more had voiced complaints.
Among the complaints were that doctors had to do extensive renovations to their clinics, pay RM500 for registration, and that the Act gave patients too much power.
“This problem has come about because doctors have been unregulated for 35 years. Those who complain should look at the Act in its totality and not pick one or two things to quarrel about,” he said.
He said in the past 13 years, 47 meetings were held between his ministry and various stakeholders, like the Malaysia Medical Association (MMA) and private hospital associations.
Yesterday, the MMA faxed a letter to the ministry criticising certain aspects of the Act.
“A check of the records will show that the issues brought up are non-issues.
“Because the MMA has had a change in leadership, records were not looked through properly before accusations were levelled,” he said.