PUTRAJAYA: The Staggered Working Hours (WBB) system for medical officers is an additional option to the existing on-call and shift systems, not a replacement, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
WBB is a new shift system for public healthcare workers that is still at the proposal stage.
At a special press conference on the WBB issue here today, he clarified that the system was designed by doctors for doctors in the field in selected hospital departments.
The system was developed after taking into account various inputs from stakeholders at different levels, and the decision was made following the urgent need to improve the existing work schedule system.
“The selection of any work schedule arrangement (on-call, shift or WBB) is subject to the capability and availability of the respective hospital department and administration,” he said.
Prior to this, the Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement group called for the immediate withdrawal of the WBB system, claiming it had caused frustration among medical officers as the Health Ministry (MOH) announced it without prior consultation with key stakeholders.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) had also expressed concerns about the implementation of the WBB system, which they believed would exacerbate the existing shortage of staff, burden doctors with excessive duties and impact the quality of patient care.
However, Dzulkefly clarified that the implementation of such a pilot project (WBB) could only begin once approved by the Minister of Health with the consent of the Public Service Department.
“Before that, the guidelines for the implementation of the pilot project at health facilities were issued through a circular, allowing preparations to be made before the pilot project began.
“Unfortunately, this circular was leaked to the public by irresponsible parties and was misunderstood in its purpose,” he said.
A circular had surfaced stating that the first phase of WBB would begin on Feb 1 this year.
Dzulkefly had previously said that the purpose of WBB was to reduce fatigue, improve the quality of life and welfare of medical officers, and enhance the quality of service delivery to the public.
He said the implementation of the system was aimed, among other things, at reducing the on-call working hours from a maximum of 33 hours to 18 hours for each shift of the involved staff, as well as ensuring that no medical officer works continuously for more than 24 hours.
In another development, he said the decision regarding the increase in on-call allowances would be raised at the Cabinet meeting this Friday, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“I managed to contact the Prime Minister earlier. He mentioned that I should wait for the Cabinet meeting this Friday to get a final decision,” he said.
The government doctors’ section in MMA reported disappointment with the MOH for still ‘avoiding’ the promised increase in on-call allowances for doctors.
They claimed that the delay in implementation would only lead to more doctors leaving the government service.
