Materia Medica Malaysiana

New Straits Times Online - MTUC: ‘Very, very slow’ PSC needs change of attitude

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11: The Public Services Commission’s inefficiency in processing work applications involved not only foreign doctors but local workers as well, according to the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).

"They are very, very slow even with today's information technology," its president Senator Datuk Zainal Rampak said today.

Zainal was responding to a statement by Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng that the shortage of foreign doctors in Malaysia stemmed from the inefficiency of PSC's recruitment process. On the recommended time needed to process applications, Zainal said it should take about one month.

"There should be guidelines and procedures to speed up the decisionmaking process. A change of attitude is needed," he said.

Meanwhile, PSC, in a Press release, refuted allegations that its recruitment process was inefficient.

Chairman Datuk Abdul Wahab Adam said the process involved the Foreign Ministry, Health Ministry and PSC.

He said it took about two to four months for the application forms to reach PSC from the two ministries and about a month for the commission to process the applications.

"We have conducted the interviews first and made conditional offers a day after. The offer is made before applicants registered with the Malaysian Medical Council, which is a requirement.

"This shows we speed things up," he said. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently said benefits offered to foreign doctors working in Malaysia would have to be reviewed to alleviate the shortage of doctors.