Health ministry to study policy proposals on appointment, placement of doctors

Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad says the ministry is bringing all proposals under one human resources policy for review. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The health ministry is studying several proposed new policies for the appointment and placement of medical officers as it plans to reform this area of human resource management, its minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad, said.

“We are fine-tuning the proposals to tackle the problems, shortages and maldistribution in one single human resource reform policy for review,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Dzulkefly was replying to Sheikh Mohmed Puzi Sheikh Ali (BN-Pekan) who asked about the doctor-patient ratio and attempts to deal with the critical shortage of medical officers during the question-and-answer session.

He said the ministry was working to increase the number of doctors at public health facilities to a target ratio of one doctor to 400 residents by 2025, Bernama reported.

It included increasing medical graduate training slots from 10,835 in 2013 to 12,198 this year, in addition to working with the higher education ministry and the private sector to attract students to study medicine.

“Based on the 2023 health indicators issued by the ministry, the ratio of doctors to residents in 2022 was 1:412, compared to 1:758 in 2012.

“Although this shows a satisfactory increase, the ministry is committed to further increasing the number of doctors in public facilities,” he said.

By comparison, Singapore has a doctor-resident ratio of 1:270, the UK 1:357, Australia 1:270, Austria 1:192, Thailand 1:1,111, and Indonesia 1:1,400.