Deal for govt docs reasonable

Star: THE Public Service Department (PSD) wishes to refer to the letters “Doctors suffering in silence for far too long” (The Star, April 21) and “New docs getting a better deal now” (The Star, April 23).
The Government has continuously improved the scheme of service for medical officers in terms of salaries, allowances, perquisites and career development.
In fact, the initial salary of government medical officers is the highest compared to those of other schemes of service in the public sector.
lt starts at RM2.456.39 (Grade UD41, P1T6) as against those of other schemes of service. The initial salary takes into consideration the period of six years that an undergraduate takes to qualify as a medical officer.
Furthermore, the total takehome pay for newly-appointed medical officers is RM4,058.39 when all the monthly allowances and Incentive Payment for Critical Service (the highest compared to those of other critical schemes) are factored in .

In addition, medical officers also receive the following allowances:
> On-call allowance at the rate of RM150 per night;
> Locum at the rate of RM80 per hour; and
> Incentive payment for specialist ranging from RM1,600 to RM3,100 per month, depending on the grade of the officer.

The ruling that will entitle newly-appointed medical officers to receive RM6,000 per month will take affect in 2010, after the current batch of medical graduates have completed their internship at a local government hospital.
To further advance their career prospects, the Government has improved promotion opportunities of medical officers by creating more promotional posts. At the same time, the Government has increased the number of scholarships for the Masters programme to 600.
The courses undertaken by medical officers are also recognised as fulfilling the conditions of the Competency Level Assessment for promotion to Grade UD48 and recognition as specialists. Additionally, medical officers have the opportunity to attend and present papers at conferences locally and abroad.
The Government recognises that the work done by medical officers is crucial to maintaining a viable public health system that would provide quality medical care to all Malaysians. The Government, therefore, will continue to improve the terms and conditions of service for medical officers.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, Public Service Department