How to drive doctors from public service III
posted in - Nation, - Palmdoc |I spotted this Doctor’s Cry in a letter to Malaysiakini
Some facts have to be highlighted prior to proceeding. Reporting for duty is both exciting and grueling. Exciting – new people and place, grueling – the number of forms to fill. Housing allowance is provided to government staff irrespective of where you come from. In peninsula, it is called “Imbuhan Tetap Perumahan (ITP)”. If you are transferred to Sabah or Sarawak, you’ll get the “Elaun Pindahan Wilayah (EPW)”, the latter being more, considering the higher cost of living. The bottom-line is it is a housing allowance.
When Dr K applied for what he was qualified for, EPW, the hospital administration staff was happy to throw a bombshell at him. He was asked to produce his parents’ birth certificate. You heard me loud and clear. Yes, not his but his parents! (The very same ministry was paying him the housing allowance for nine years without even knowing whether he had parents or not!).
If that’s not enough, he was told that he will be denied his hard earned pay for at least four months because the State Account General will take four months to verify that Dr K is Dr K despite being in service to the same ministry for the last nine years! By the way, the SAG’s office is 20 minutes from the hospital. But he is required to work, with no questions asked for four months without salary.
It will be interesting to know that if this happens to a specialist transferred from the peninsula, what will happen to the poor house officers and medical officers. Dr K was in dire straits. He has car and housing loans to service, two children to feed and educate, various bills in peninsula as well as Sabah to pay. He has already received a lawyer’s letters demanding payments which have indirectly lead him to be denied of any loans in the future. Having done two years of pre-med, five years of med school and four years of a backbreaking masters’ programme, Dr K was at the mercy of a SPM dropout clerk to determine his salary payment.He sought for help from his superiors who only had ample of moral support to give. This happens to many of us here in Sabah due to the lackadaisical attitude of clerical staffs.
We beg on a daily basis to the hospital administration to speed up the paperwork for us but the joy of denying a doctor his salary is too overwhelming for them. Many house officers face the same fate, threatened by the system which upon voicing justice would send him or her to the interiors.
Medical officers, immuned by inefficiency of the administration, continue serving the patients and the hospital, afraid of being denied Masters programmes or being labeled rebellious. Highlighting this problem even to the state health director bears no fruit. That’s how the system works and you are supposed to impregnate yourself into it. When questioned, invariably they point fingers to their superiors (who go as far as Putrajaya).Several questions need to be answered. The Public Services Department insists on a peninsular-born doctor to produce his/her parents’ birth certificates to qualify for housing allowance if transferred to Sabah. This despite both parents being Malaysians and MyKad will not be accepted. Is this necessary to do public service?
There’s an unusual delay (about three months) in paying on-call, locum and transfer claims. Why the delay, as it involves only a couple of signatures by the hospital director and the accountant who works in the same hospital? Who can listen to our grouses and provide a reasonable solution to our paper-work related problems? Can the Director-General of Health help, as nobody in Sabah can.
Can the insensitive nature of the administration staff be changed or do we behave like them and say Malaysia Boleh? How do unhappy doctors serve the patients happily and politely? I guess many of these questions will remain unanswered and this cry of ours will be brushed aside as just another complaint.
To sum it all, basically it’s a bumbling and inefficient administration which frustrates doctors in public service. Is the MOH listening? We already mentioned more examples in previous posts:
How to drive doctors from public service
How to drive doctors from public service II
Last 5 posts by Palmdoc
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September 5th, 2008 at 10:51 am
“Is the MOH listening? We already mentioned more examples in previous posts…”
Well, they have no time to listen now. As Sept 16 is drawing nearer. ;P
September 5th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
and they wonder why we were leaving government service for private hospitals
4 months with no pay… this is absurd
September 5th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
it is not we who leave them, but rather they who, by their policies and ridiculous redtape, already abused and neglected us since Day zero with them.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Malaysia has been left behind…..the ministry should have been decentralized and corporatised long ago….the previous Minister wasted precious time and money chasing after private clinics when this was always the priority……the story of this doctor…..is pathetic to say the least…..why do they keep treating them like beggars…..if we have a new government ……it has to address the problem of quickly decentralizing the service into trusts, corporate bodies or any form of independent entity so that there is better governance and accountability…..the British Raj ended half a century ago….our MOH unfortunately still lives in that era…….
September 5th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Why on earth would one’s parents’ birth certificates be required? Ridiculous red tape if you ask me!
September 5th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
The above mentioned matter is a SAD story and a TRUE story of a Ministry in our country.
My bestfriend is a dr in Sabah.he was directed by the KKM to serve in Land bELOW THE WIND despite having given several surat rayuan all got rejected.he called KKM and asked them “why is my letter getiing rejected where else some of my friends are entertained”. the KKM staff could say is …” DR even anak saudara speaker dewan rakyat(not the current one) pun tidak dapat di layan permohonannya.Terpulang kepada luck you.”.Despite stating his parents medical illness it was not entertained.This happens to a doctor who studied to serve the people but deprived of taking care of own parents.Ok fine.”Apa dr risau, boleh tuntut tiket penerbangan ke sabah”(WHAT she thinks a dr cant affor a flight ticket.Jt to get a free flight ticket she has to get transferred to Sabah)This is th ementality of KKM staff.They talk to doctors like us as if we are uneducated.PLEEEASE FOR HEAVEN SAKE.TREAT US LIKE DOCTORS.
For all those insentives people say u will have this and that in East Malaysia.BUT reality is far away from the truth .You may get it but wth alot of document requirements and delay in getting it sorted.MY friend said he had more gruelling experience with all the documents and paper work than getting adjusted to a new place.
Till now after a long duration in THAT state he is still yearning for his EPW .Why does a hospital need this workers when they are not doing their duties.All they say is “dr this is the protocol”"dr yours is a special case”"dr it will take time for processing”.
If health minister can impose us doctors to abide to the new WAITNING TIME to see patients…PLEASE do the same for ADMINISTRATION in KKM.Dont treat us this way.Dont blame anyone but your KKM if doctors leave PSD.We are sick and tired treated like some dirt even a hospital attendant get entertained better than a qualified MEDICAL DEGREE HOLDER.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
FINALLY ………….thanx to the brave dr writing to Malaysia kini of the plight we doctors in Sabah are suffering.Sabah is nice patient are nice but Administration and Account department just sucks.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Most doctors I know are just bearing with it waiting to leave.
The accounts dept is the WORSE bureaucratic dept. Much hard earned money has been lost because of the exasperation dealing with the MORONS at the accounts dept. Supremely pathetic.
How do overburdened doctors have the time to go and chase up every cent owed to them with the office every time. When they eventually do find time to go to office, the clerk will be missing…keluar minum !!!! or cuti sakit!!! or cuti bersalin !!! or tidak tau dimana !!!
Let’s see how they like it when we demand THEIR PARENTS birth cert when they want our consultation.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:25 am
if only the situation in Malaysia’s health sector is half as good as the developed countries, i wouldn’t even have to think twice on coming back after graduating..
and they wonder why all these ‘unpatriotic’ doctors are not coming back. if only they will stop and really listen. sigh.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Dear All,
There are strong words mentioned, in this blog posting. I will suggest some solutions to our net savvy readers.
It will be BETTER and Wise to send letters / emails to the relevant officers in the sections, the will definitely work at a faster pace.
They will try to sort out the difficulties faced by any employee in the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
-Serve the website of the MOH and look for the icon eAduan, submit your grouses to the portal, but please give your exact details. The format will prompt the user. for contact number please give your handphone number (as we are all very mobile). The complaint just needs to “copy ” his earlier grouses from the Malaysiakini webste and “paste” in the eAduan website.
-Serve the MOH website and send the email or fax to
Dato’ Ahmad Bin Hj.Kabit, (he is a very proactive and kind person)
Pejabat Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha (Pengurusan),
Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia,
Aras 12, Blok E7, Parcel E,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,
62590 Putrajaya.
EMAIL : ahmadkabit@moh.gov.my
NO TELEFON : 03 – 88832538
FAKS : 03 – 88895303
-or doing the copy and paste method, send the fax/email to the Timbalan Pengarah Pengurusan fax number/email and a copy of the fax to the Pengarah Negeri fax number. Do not also forget to send a fax to the Account Generals (Kota Kinabalu)office.
I would definately prefer the email method as it is more enviromentally friendly (I think).
Cheers and be happy the MOH is a WONDERFUL place to work in. Believe me.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Good suggestions you put up Langitputra. It remains to be seen which of these channels, if any, actually works
September 6th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Believe me Palmdoc, it will definately work.
I have done the same thing before.
It will cause a small time 6.0 on the Richter (admin version). ha3. Have a good weekend chief.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
The absurdity that (future) doctors, especially HO, who wants to work in Sabah should learn about before you come here to Kota Kinabalu…
Yes, they said all sorts of cases come here in Queen. Cirrhosis of all stages, CRHD nearly bursting, melioidosis of the most bizarre, SLE with autoimmune hepatitis, phaeochromocytoma with BP of 220… yada yada… and wow, high EPW (Elaun Pemindahan Wilayah). And your first salary as HO amounting RM5000+ excluding the on – call allowances.
Wait 2 – 4 months for your claim of flight tickets… Dear Peninsulites.
Learn through the agonizing (plus starvation) way that your salary will only be delivered to you after 4 months time.
Hear them announce that you only have the weekend to find lodging. No my dear, the hospital lodging has several rules and terms to comply prior application.
Your first call and 20 new admissions come in within 2 hours at 2 am, that you’ll wince and cringe with each ambulance siren.
Experience starvation as you scramble for time to finish your 8 am bought – breakfast at 8 pm.
The legendary lackasaidal and absurd slowness and tardiness of non – medical staffs here who saunters in and waste your time over their friendly chatting with the person next to them (and no, not to you. Lucky you, you wont get a bored face with a bored voice). Generalized this to the public services too.
Punch in at 8 am. In your dreams. That is for non – medical staffs, and they go for coffee breaks right after punching in, and hopefully come back before lunch time. To attend to your… what was that again? Oh, right, right… if only they can find the right file / document / shelf…
Sorry to say, my feelings are bordering to contempt throughout my 5 years stay here in Sabah, bitterness aside.