Day off post call for houseman... hurray !!

I would like to applaud the Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai directive for giving the house officers ( trainee doctors ) day off post call which takes effect immediately. It is a bold move to protect the sanity of junior doctors from the stress of overworking. It is news which all current junior and future doctors to be are waiting for. Those misery hours of “slavery” is now non existent ! It took a Nutritionist ( not Pharmacist ) to tell all the Senior doctors in helm that humans are not robots !

I would however be utterly disappointed if this decision made had spontaneity origin or “knee jerk” response which has always been a trademark by politicians. Populist motives create more havoc and disarray in the organization then making things better. I believe this news is not expected on the ground level of the healthcare setup itself. MMA and SCHOMOS for years has been proposing methods and ways to protect the training of housemanship . However , it was never taken to put into action by the Ministry of Health.

The whole structure of healthcare organization in the Public Healthcare system is in a mess. There is no specific KPI which doctors should adhere to or any regulations which is labour law compliant.We do ward work , rounds and clinic as how it was told to us verbally by our predecessors. It should be taken into consideration that doctors working in the rural areas themselves are overworked with high clinical and administrative responsibilities. The welfare plight of these doctors who have gone through the “old” system should be looked into before making decisions such as this which could cripple the hospital set up !

Therefore , I would suggest that all doctors post call should have their day off formally as how the house officers are. To make it realistic , I would urge that the Ministry of Health to thoroughly revamp the working strata of all public medical personnels . The current system is ancient and we should evolve with the rest of the world.