In the past, many doctors have illegally moonlighted as locums, and while the government was aware of this, it could not take action because the health authorities were not able to track the locums down.

"Since we couldn't do that, I brought up the matter with the cabinet, which decided to allow the doctors to work as locums," said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.

With that solution, doctors can continue serving the government and at the same time work in the private sector, he said, after opening an international conference on robotic urologic surgery at the KL Hospital yesterday.

As a locum, a general practitioner is paid 30 ringgit (Bt317) to 40 ringgit an hour and a specialist about 80 ringgitan hour.

Dr Chua said there were five rules that doctors had to observe before they took up locum services: they had to first obtain permission from their head of department and they must give priority to their service at government hospitals and not allow their full-time work to suffer.

There are about 10,000 government doctors, and Dr Chua estimated that 15 per cent of them had taken locum jobs.

Dr Chua encouraged those intending to become locums to buy personal insurance, because the coverage provided by the government did not include off-duty work.

Malaysian Medical Association National Schomos (house officers, medical officers and specialists section) chairman Dr Vasan Sinnadurai welcomed the move.

"It will supplement doctors' incomes, especially now with the cost of living rising rapidly," he said.

"Now the doctors in the public sector will be encouraged to stay on with the government and not drift into the private sector," he said.

The Star/Asia News Network

KUALA LUMPUR