KUCHING, Sept 6 — Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has asked for a task force to be set up to enable house officers (HOs) to know why they did not get permanent posts and what they need to do to address this.

In responding to manpower issues brought up during the Health White Paper (HWP) Development town hall session at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) auditorium last night, Khairy also said he would try to fight for more permanent posts.

"I don’t know how this came about, but in 2017 we introduced this contract system. And that’s really changed everything. So for many years, everyone who came in was given a contract and not a permanent post.

"The only permanent posts that were created over the last five years were when somebody had retired, you appoint someone to it. Net zero increase in permanent posts,” he said in his concluding remarks.

Khairy said when he was appointed health minister, the ministry put up a fight and this year there were 4,000 new permanent posts — the biggest increase in the last five years.

"But that’s not nearly enough because the people who apply for it were 9,000. I can’t give everyone a permanent post. One thing that I need to tell you that I’m a minister who tells you the truth. I’m not going to lie to you. I’m not going to give you false promises. I can’t offer permanent posts to every single houseman that comes through our doors anymore. Those days over,” he said.

Khairy said senior doctors have stressed the Ministry of Health (MoH) must look at the quality of those coming through.

He explained that the MoH has an interview process, but some people were unhappy about it as they had qualifications.

"So we’ll look through it. We’ll make sure that process is more transparent. So at least those who are of high quality that you identify, we’ll get them permanent posts.

"Or if you have people who you think are star performers, we have to have a way of having our senior specialists say, look, this is somebody who’s a star. I want to treat him I want to make sure he or she becomes the next rockstar in neurosurgery give him a permanent post and we can have a fast track, and I think that’s fair,” he said.

On the HWP Advisory Council, Khairy said he noted there were comments on a need for better representation.

He said the council will create working groups to engage in depth with different stakeholders.

"There was never an intention to appoint different professions onto the Advisory Council because then it will be too much, but I do understand that there are concerns.

"For instance, geographical representation from Sarawak and Sabah, major professional representation from pharmacists and so on. We will definitely take that on board and we will discuss that with the co-chair of the Advisory Council,” he said.

The Advisory Council is co-chaired by former health minister Tan Sri Dr S Subramaniam and Axiata Group chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan.

The HWP aims to future-proof the healthcare system by focusing on several key areas.

Khairy aims to table it during the next Parliamentary sitting in November. — Borneo Post