Health ministry short of 1,176 drivers, including for ambulances

The health ministry is facing a shortage of 1,176 drivers for various public healthcare vehicles, including ambulances, forcing existing drivers to take on greater workloads.

The lack of manpower is reportedly expected to persist until April next year, caused by a postponement of recruitment by the public services commission (SPA) in 2024.
The ministry said the hiring of drivers was postponed to make way for the implementation of a new scheme under the Public Service Remuneration System, Berita Harian reported.

Now, drivers are officially known as general service assistants and categorised as a skilled service, it said.

“This change demands closer consideration of the qualifications of candidates to ensure that those selected are genuinely suitable and competent to perform the functions of a driver, especially for ambulances.

“This new scheme also encourages the expansion of job scopes, multi-skilling and multitasking,” said the health ministry.

The ministry expects to fill the vacancies across the country in stages from April 2027 onwards.

It said the SPA is still acting on applications for the role, with candidates completing their driving competency tests on Oct 27.

As of Sept 30, the ministry had 8,863 posts for drivers, of which 7,687 had been filled.

Peninsular Malaysia recorded the most vacancies by region at 1,003 drivers, followed by Sarawak (92), Sabah (73) and Labuan (eight).

A union representing drivers under the health ministry had urged the government to immediately fill these vacancies to ensure that the public ambulance service could function at an optimal level.

Its president, Reostam Dzahar, said the manpower shortage had added to the workloads of drivers, causing burnout for some.

The health ministry said the change in scheme for drivers was necessary to separate the overlapping job scopes from those of other general service assistants.

It said normal general service assistants are meant to focus on carrying out general support services according to the needs of the relevant departments.

These may include acting as a driver, subject to competency tests and permission from the heads of departments.

“For general service assistants (drivers), their focus is on their driving duties and maintenance of department-issued vehicles, including ambulances, at their assigned locations,” said the ministry.

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