Medical association: 7000 GPs being sidelined by indecisive gov't

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has lambasted the decision reached by the NACCOL ( National Cost of Living Action Council) on Tuesday to request another study regarding the harmonisation of General Practioner (GP) consultation fees between private practice and their counterparts in the private hospitals.

Saying this will leave 7,000 Health Ministry-trained GPs sidelined by the indecisive Pakatan Harapan government, MMA president Dr N Ganabaskaran was extremely disappointed at the request.

"Instead of making a firm decision after endless rounds of studies and stakeholders’ consultations including the cabinet, another study about the impact of the harmonisation is being requested.

"Meanwhile, it is clear that GPs who were the bedrock of this nation's primary health care for the last 50 years and who had been trained by the Health Ministry are being relegated to irrelevance," said Ganabaskaran in a statement today.

He asserted that the NACCOL, in keeping with his mandate of the cost of living, should be taking serious measures in rental, food and transportation costs rather than the relatively small GP charges.

Ganabaskaran went on to claim that GP charges have no direct impact on the cost of living due to the freely available alternative option of free government healthcare services.

"GP services supplement the government system and are an additional option for the public but not a compulsory choice.

"It's also been explained many times in the past that the total encounter fees for the public will not rise due to free-market forces as well as a reduction in medication cross-subsidies," he said.

Not mincing his words, Ganabaskaran urged Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and fellow cabinet ministers to do "what's right and uphold the ideals of leaving no one behind" and to "once and for all stop this political manoeuvring."

On April 24, Dzulkefly said the proposed review of the consultation fees for private general medical practitioners was tabled to the cabinet for approval after the ministry took note of the difficulties faced by private general medical practitioners in dealing with the rising overheads and costs to continue offering their services to the public.

"The Health Minister is empowered by the Private Healthcare Act to gazette the Harmonisation of Fees. However, the current cabinet wants to micro-manage every decision at the ministry level.

"MMA fails to understand the need for this merry go round consultations and impact studies which are a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.

"Further delay in this long-drawn unresolved issue would constitute a total disregard for the trust we placed in this government and make universal healthcare a meaningless tagline," he added.