The Right Step

Finally...a step in the right direction. Well, I guess the Ministry of Health has been mulling this for quite some time already - the green light has finally been given. And it will be a welcome boost to those working in the Emergency Department, but not necessarily to those working in the Klinik Kesihatans concerned. Everybody working in the hospital knows how overburdened ED doctors are - truly the majority of cases coming to the ED after office hours are non-emergency cases (I'd think that the number is closer to 90%).

It's about time the public health doctors share this burden with their hospital colleagues. It's about time these doctors leave their cushy eight-to-five routine and bear more of the burden (one thing I'd like to see is them working on public holidays too...) But of course if the doctors choose to work overtime, they should be adequately compensated, similar to their colleagues in the hospital who chooses to work in the Emergency Department locum clinics. Somehow I feel that the RM 30 per hour locum pay is a bit light (you must however remember that the workload would be much higher than working at a private GP locum); the proposed RM 40 per hour may be more effective at attracting doctors.

And apparently private doctors are welcome too...who knows, maybe I'd be interested too...