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Speaking to FMT, he paid tribute to the country’s “hardworking healthcare workers” and said he is determined to ensure they are remunerated fairly for working graveyard shifts which “few other professions will ever know or experience”.
“While our doctors are on their on-call duties at unearthly hours, many others are in the comfort of their beds,” he said.
“This is not about personal success or failure. It’s about finding the best way forward for the country and, more importantly, our healthcare workers.”
Dzulkefly was asked to comment on former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s claim that the WBB system for healthcare workers failed to get off the ground due to the disconnect between Putrajaya’s bureaucrats and the realities of medical practice.
“Firstly, this is quite unlike the usual KJ,” said Dzulkefly.
“Was he ill-advised when he took on the PTDs (administrative and diplomatic officers)?
“He didn’t seem to understand how WBB was conceived and was supposed to have been implemented. It has almost nothing to do with the PTDs.”
WBB, which sought to limit on-call hours for doctors from 33 to 18 hours, was widely criticised for cutting healthcare workers’ allowances by including extended shifts into the standard 45-hour work week.
While healthcare workers would work fewer hours, they stood to lose income as they would not be granted an allowance for working past 5pm on weekdays.
Graveyard shifts would also be treated as regular work hours and included as part of the 45-hour work week.
The proposal was shelved by the Cabinet last Friday in order to allow for a more comprehensive study of the matter, with Dzulkefly today stating that he did not consider the decision an embarrassment.
Noting that he has a “gargantuan task” ahead of him in reforming the country’s healthcare system, Dzulkefly said his main aim is to make meaningful changes that not only address current legacy issues, but also future-proof them for the generations to come.
Dzulkefly also said that while he welcomed feedback from all parties, it was crucial that these parties understand the health ministry has limited resources.
“Undertaking the arduous task of doing the right thing is usually unpopular. It is a lot easier to dish out popular policies piecemeal without addressing the root causes,” he said.
“The real challenge is doing the right thing, and doing it right.”
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