Kota Kinabalu: The Public Service Department’s (JPA) decision to grant the Health Ministry (MOH) authority to manage and allocate its own staffing posts is a crucial step towards accelerating recruitment and addressing long-standing shortages of healthcare personnel, particularly in Sabah’s rural and remote areas.
Sabah Medical Services Union (SMSU) president Ajulahin Japin said the administrative autonomy would give MOH greater flexibility in determining the distribution of approved posts, enabling faster recruitment, more effective workforce planning and better deployment of personnel.
“Giving the ministry the authority to manage its own approved posts is a timely, practical and forward-looking initiative that will significantly benefit Sabah and the country's overall healthcare ecosystem,” he told Bernama.
Last Friday, JPA granted MOH a direct mandate to independently manage and allocate its staffing posts to expedite the placement and filling of critical healthcare vacancies nationwide.
Public Service director-general (KPPA) Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz said more than 9,000 medical officer vacancies in MOH could be filled by over 11,000 contract medical officers, with the ministry given full flexibility to deploy personnel according to hospital requirements.
However, Ajulahin said that MOH’s top management must conduct on-site assessments to ensure staffing allocations reflect actual needs.
“For Sabah, the initiative is particularly significant as the state has long faced persistent shortages of healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, assistant medical officers and allied health professionals,” he said.
He said the chronic shortage of personnel had placed considerable pressure on existing staff and affected the ability of healthcare facilities to meet growing public demand for services.
Given Sabah's vast geographical landscape and dispersed population, he said workforce allocation must be guided by actual service demands to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare.
Ajulahin also hope that the initiative would not only focus on creating new posts but also prioritise filling long-standing vacancies arising from retirements, resignations and staff attrition.
He said the union was confident the move would help ease the workload of frontline healthcare workers, improve staff well-being and morale, and ultimately strengthen public healthcare services.
