Health Ministry approves request of 332 medical officers who appealed for transfer

KOTA BHARU - The Health Ministry (MOH) has approved appeals for transfer for 332 medical officers throughout the country and these MOs are required to report for duty on July 31.

According to Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, among appeals considered were for medical officers who made appeals to pursue specialisation studies in their respective profession, those who faced serious family problems and for security reasons.

"The appeals were approved on June 27 and July 24 after reviewing appeals from 1,843 of the 4,155 medical officers who were offered permanent positions.

"The placement this time will be made via a system and need the medical officers to choose their placement because the disparity between contract officers and permanent officers can be high in a number of states and to give medical officers a fair opportunity to choose their placements,” she told reporters during a special media conference, here today.

Commenting further, Dr Zaliha said the MOH had set up several channels for medical officers to appeal through 'google form', face to face appeals, while three dedicated telephone lines were allocated for medical officers to get in touch with the Human Resources Department.

"In the process for appeal, the Appeals Panel during their meetings will consider the appeals of all officers but not all appeals can be approved because positions involving the officers might not be vacant in certain states that they applied for. Consideration will be given to those who need such placements.

"When reviewing the appeals, medical officers will also be offered to serve in other states nearby although they have appealed to serve in a certain state. It happens when the state in question does not have vacancies. When there are no vacancies in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Melaka, placements in Johor, Pahang or Kedah might be offered,” she said.

The medical officers can go straight to their respective work place approved by the MOH without having to wait for their letter of offer because their respective placements will have their record when they report for duty.

"However, if medicals officers seek to report later than the date of appointment, they can appeal to their respective heads of department to determine the actual date that they will report for duty,” she said.

The MOH is also aware that the transition of medical officers and relocation can leave a void in the many departments, hospitals, and clinics they have served. - BERNAMA