Liow: Recruitment of medical practitioners to be made easy

Star: PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has formed a special task force to expedite the recruitment of doctors in the country.
Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the task force, led by ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohd Nasir Mohd Ashraf, aimed to cut the recruitment process from two or three months to a month or less.
“We have been talking about the shortage of medical practitioners in the country for a long time,” he told reporters after the ministry’s monthly gathering here yesterday.
“We want to fix this problem as soon as possible.”
Currently, he said the delay was caused by the long wait for candidates to be called in for interview and placement.
Liow also launched the Health Ministry Online Recruitment Drive System, which allows job seekers to apply for jobs in the ministry.
“Those who are interested can submit their application (via the Internet) without having to wait for recruitment advertisements in the newspapers,” he said.
On the Putrajaya Hospital, which caught fire after a lightning strike on Saturday, Liow said the three wards — 3A, 3B, and 2C — were now accessible and could be used after clean-up work was carried out on Monday.
The fire started at the orthopaedic ward of the five-storey hospital.
“I am still waiting for the full report on why the lightning arrester in the hospital was not working.
“I am very unhappy,” Liow said.
On the Putrajaya health clinic, where a chunk of ceiling fell on a walkway, Liow said he was still waiting for a report on the incident.
“We expect the repairs to be done as soon as possible so that the services at the clinic can resume in less than a day’s time,” he said.