SHAH ALAM: The decision to approve maternity leave due to the lack of medical officers at the Hulu Langat district health office in Selangor was agreed upon by all clinic heads in the district.
Selangor health department director Dr Ummi Kalthom Shamsudin said the decision was reached by taking into consideration there were seven medical officers on maternity leave simultaneously at several health clinics throughout the months of June and July, 2024.
She added that the situation was exacerbated by several medical officers rejecting their placements after being posted to Hulu Langat.
"If measures such as the reported limitation of maternity leave were not taken, it would have added increased workload and pressure to serving medical practitioners to fulfil public health needs.
"In principle, the Health Ministry (MoH) will ensure the continuous service to the public remains unaffected.
This has to be done without affecting the quality of service, the safety of patients and welfare of medical practitioners in general," she said in a statement on Saturday.
She said the Hulu Langat health clinic had also obtained opinions on reducing the duration of maternity leave from the Health Ministry's Human Resource Division's Regulatory Unit and Employee Relations in 2023.
According to the Human Resource Services Circular (Leave Facility) Version 1.0 (2022), the allotted period for maternity leave was between 60 to 90 days for each birth with flexibility to determine the exact period, Dr Ummi said.
"Taking everything into consideration, the Hulu Langat health office took temporary measures to set maternity leave at 60 days for each birth, the minimum mandatory leave.
"However, the Hulu Langat health office will still consider any request for additional maternity leave on a case by case basis, and each approval is subject to the interests of the service," she added.
The office also held dialogue sessions with district health officers and medical officers yesterday to provide briefings on the current situation and improvement measures carried out in the district, she said, adding that the Selangor state health department was also trying to fill vacancies in the Hulu Langat health office as soon as possible.
She also assured that they remained committed to seeking the best solution for the continued health service at the state level.
A local news portal had previously reported on the 60-day maternity leave imposed on medical officers working in the district health clinics since June 27.