Malaysia’s Public Service Department (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam, or JPA) has announced the approval of the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s application, to establish 10,675 positions at new upcoming health facilities.

The 10,675 positions will be added in phases and roles include dental officers, medical officers, assistant medical officers, pharmacy officers, nurses, and more. To start off, a warrant for 385 job positions was issued to MOH’s Secretary-General YBhg. Dato’ Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min last Monday, for Rembau Hospital in Negeri Sembilan.

According to the press release issued by JPA’s Datuk Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman, Director General of Public Services, the approval of this application is considered to improve the quality of health services provided. That said, he also stressed the important roles played by the other service sectors, in contributing to the nation’s development.

He added that in 2018, Malaysia’s government implemented the Public Service Size Control Policy, with the aim to optimise the use of human resources and improve productivity and efficiency in the public service. Under this policy, the government has targeted to reduce the 1.7mn job vacancies by 5 percent between 2019 to 2021.

Mohd Khairul Adib in a media conference has also urged all ministries to be creative and innovative in meeting the public’s demand for government services, instead of resolving the issue by just increasing the number of staff.

In line with the country’s population growth, there is an increased demand for public services, he noted, adding that several ministries have stated their urgent need for positions to be filled to ensure quality services were provided.

Sharing a way to optimise the services of existing civil servants, he said: “To continue serving the people without compromising on quality efficient use of technology should be considered as an alternative in strengthening the service delivery chain.”