KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry (MOH) has been urged to swiftly finalise its decision on the proposed new working hours for nurses, amid rising anxiety and operational disruption across Malaysia’s public healthcare facilities.
Senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran raised the alarm today, warning that the delay in confirming the changes, shifting from 42 hour to 45 hour workweek, is causing deep unease among frontline healthcare workers while risking further strain on an already burdened health system.
“Our nurses are not just healthcare workers attending to patients. They are mothers, wives, and daughters managing family responsibilities too,” he said in a statement.
“A poorly planned increase in working hours will severely disrupt their work-life balance, ultimately affecting the quality of healthcare delivery.”
Initially, the Health Ministry announced that the new working hours would be implemented on 1 December 2024 to 1 March 2025 and later again postponing to 1 June 2025. The continued uncertainty, Dr Lingeshwaran stressed, reflects a lack of comprehensive planning and threatens to worsen the nation’s nursing workforce shortage.
He warned that poorly thought-out policies could accelerate the exodus of nurses, especially at a time when Malaysia is grappling with a surge in non-communicable diseases and an aging population.
The Health Ministry must understand that delays and half-measures not only erode trust within the healthcare community but also endanger the very system it is meant to protect. Nurses form the backbone of healthcare, their wellbeing is directly tied to the wellbeing of the nation.
The longer the indecision drags on, the deeper the cracks in public healthcare morale. Leadership now demands more than announcements and postponements; it requires decisive, thoughtful action.
Malaysia’s nurses and the patients who rely on them, deserve nothing less. -MalayaDailyToday
