Only 5 Pct Of 7,000 Private Clinics Registered Under PHFSA

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 (Bernama) -- With three months to go before the deadline for some 7,000 private clinics to register with the Health Ministry following the implementation of the newly passed bill, only five per cent have done so.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the government was aware of some of the weaknesses in the regulation and was willing to look into the matter but the doctors should first register their clinics.
"We cannot let this weakness be an excuse for not enforcing the Act. Time frame of 13 years has lapsed and there are weaknesses in the Act. So I appeal to the doctors to give this Act a chance to be implemented.
"And to claim they are not consulted is a lie. I have the records here to show that," he told reporters after launching the 'Bulan Minda Sihat' programme, organised by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) here Thursday.
The private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act (PHFSA) was first drafted in 1993 and was only implemented on April 24, this year. The newly passed bill is known as the private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHSFA) Regulation (2006).
Dr Chua refuted claims by the Association of Private Hospitals and the Malaysia Medical Association (MMA) that they were not consulted on the PHFTA but the ministry's record showed there were 46 consultation sessions held on the Act.
Dr Chua said the first meeting on the PHFSA was held on 8 Sept 1993, chaired by the then Director-General of Health, attended by representatives of the private doctors association, the association of private hospitals and the MMA.
He said the current office bearers of the three associations claimed that they were not consulted on the Act, without taking into consideration their respective predecessors were present when the Act was drafted.
"I can also say I was not consulted because in 1993 I was not Minister of Health. I cannot say I'm not consulted. I inherit this Act," he added.
Therefore, Dr Chua said the three associations should see the Act at the time when it was incorporated as the ministry cannot hold a consultation whenever there were changes to the associations' office bearers.
"This is what we call continuity. You must look at the past record," he lamented.
Therefore, he hoped the doctors would get their respective clinics registered as failure to comply with the regulation would land them with a hefty fine of RM300,000.
Dr Chua also dismissed concerns that the Act had provided the Health Director-General too much power -- to the extent they were empowered to refuse approval for premises and its operators without giving reason.
"We would review the D-G's powers. However, let me tell you that no doctors will be rejected except if they did not fill in the forms correctly," he said.
He also said the ministry was now in the process of collecting information from the stakeholders related to weaknesses in the Act in order for it to be amended.
The various parties in the health sector have called on the Health Ministry to defer the implementation of the PHFSA due to the some weaknesses in the Act but the Health Minister said it would not be deferred, but some amendments would be made later to correct the weaknesses.