Sarawak-born candidates given priority for positions in home state - Dr Adham

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba in citing an example said, all 74 Sarawak-born officers out of 94 cohort officers for 2017, were absorbed as permanent staff and stationed in Sarawak in April 2020.

“Through the provision of the Medical Act 1971, the government has an obligation to allocate placements for medical graduates to provide them with experience through graduate training programmes or compulsory service with the government,” he said adding that those on contract service were given placements without being subject to permanent position employment.

“Consideration for permanent appointment is made separately from time to time, after the officer completes their compulsory service or graduate training, taking into account job vacancies and officers fulfilling the required conditions and merits of these appointments, as set by the Evaluation Committee." he said during question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Dr Adham said this in reply to a question from Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (PH-Lanang) who wanted to know if priority is given to medical officers from Sarawak to fill vacancies there, and the latest status for contract appointments.

As to the latest on contract appointments, Dr Adham said in Sept 2020, the government had agreed to offer a one-off six-month contract extension to 79 medical officers.

He said the additional six-month contract extension was given on top of the previous six-months contract, to ensure continuity of services and in helping to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“The contract extension is a manifestation of the government’s thoughtfulness in enabling officers to continue delivering services despite the current challenging economic situation as well as taking into account the government's financial capability," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Adham said the government is in the midst of rightsizing as an approach to downsize and restructure, from time to time, based on service requirements.

In addition he said, the government had created 10,675 additional positions in the MOH in phases, to meet the needs of new and upgraded facilities which have yet to be fully operational.