KUCHING: More than 800 medical personnel, comprising nurses and paramedics, have expressed their wishes to return to Sarawak and serve in the region.
This was revealed by Deputy Premier, Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, who stated that under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), one of the items that the state and federal governments are currently discussing is to bring back the medical personnel who have been working outside Sarawak.
“Because here, we are still short of staff and we have some postings for them here.
“That is why we want to manage our healthcare system instead of waiting for the federal government to decide on where they are going to be posted next.
“These people are Sarawakians. Who does not want to stay at home, right?
“So these are the things we want to discuss with the federal government, and that is why we want the health autonomy,” he said.
Dr. Sim said this when met by reporters after launching the state-level national influenza immunisation programme for the elderly at Batu Kawa Health Clinic here today.
Regarding other matters that would be discussed this time around during the MA63 Technical Committee Meeting, he stated that the usual matters included health autonomy and education alongside other unresolved issues.
“Because not everything has been fully settled. The minute we think the deal is done, the next thing we know, it is not.
“So like it or not, we have to put it back on the agenda again,” he added.
On the health autonomy, Dr. Sim stated that it is progressing, depending on the decision from the federal government.
“It can be very fast, it can be very slow, it is all up to Kuala Lumpur, because it is they who will be giving up the autonomy but we are making progress,” he added.
Recently, federal Deputy Health Minister, Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni, said the placement of nurses outside their home states is one of the reasons some chose to leave their service with the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Lukanisman said the situation posed a challenge for the ministry as nurse placements are determined based on the needs of each state.
“For instance, many aspiring nurses assume that upon securing a government nursing position, they will be placed in their home state.
“However, we are facing a shortage of nurses in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Selangor.
“This creates a challenge as these placements are crucial to meeting the needs of those states,” he said in response to Suhaizan Kaiat (PH-Pulai) and Datuk Alias Razak (PN-Kuala Nerus).
Lukanisman stated that a total of 1,754 nurses left their service with MOH over the past five years, with 27.98 per cent of them due to personal problems.
