Boo Su-Lyn | CodeBlue

This year, CodeBlue’s readership grew over 300%. Our 2024 recap lists CodeBlue’s top 10 stories, spanning IJN, medical negligence court rulings, doctors quitting MOH, health insurance premium hikes, private hospital bills, Master’s in medicine, and more.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 — CodeBlue’s page views and unique visitors surged more than 300 per cent and 285 per cent respectively this year from 2023, as health care issues gain rising prominence in Malaysia.

We’d like to thank our readers, especially those from the medical fraternity and patients, for their support for CodeBlue.

Because of your bravery in speaking up for your colleagues and your trust in CodeBlue, some controversial policies were reversed, such as the initial restriction of maternity leave entitlement to 60 days for women medical officers in public health clinics in Hulu Langat, Selangor.

“CodeBlue is already my daily newspaper,” says a person working in the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The 10 most read CodeBlue stories in 2024 comprised a mix of public and private health care issues – across MOH, the Ministry of Higher Education, the National Heart Institute (IJN), private hospitals, the insurance industry, and Bank Negara:

1. IJN Discharging All Civil Servants, Pensioners Due To Government Cost-Cutting Measures — Pensioner Failed By The Government
2. April Axed As UM Dean Of Medicine, Three Months Into Three-Year Reappointment
3. High Court Awards Patient RM4.2 Million After Fall From Hospital Bed
4. LIAM CEO Stunned By 13-Page Hospital Bill For RM19,000 Minor Hernia Surgery
5. Huge Defects In Internal Medicine Master’s Programme At University Malaya: Impact On Students’ Mental Health — Master’s Student
6. Retirees Hit By Medical Insurance Premium Hikes Up To 275%
7. A Vicious Cycle: Manpower Shortage Causing Mass Doctor Resignations — Ampang Hospital Specialist
8. MOH Justifies Maternity Leave Restriction: Seven Medical Officers Took Simultaneous Maternity Leave
9. In Landmark Ruling, Federal Court Holds Private Hospital Liable For Medical Negligence, Rejects Defence Of Doctors Being ‘Independent Contractors’
10. Bank Negara Orders Insurance Industry To Publish Private Hospitals’ Charges For Procedures

CodeBlue also published multiple exclusives and broke several stories this year:

1. IJN Ordered To Switch Government Patients To Generic Drugs
2. MOH To Benchmark Private Hospital Bills Against Rakan KKM
3. Minister Plans ‘Private Wing’ Expansion In MOH Hospitals
4. Malaysia Faces Severe Insulin Shortage, Endangering Diabetes Patients
5. MOH Explores ‘Uberising’ Public-Private Ambulance Services With App
6. Temerloh Hospital’s Staff Shortage Crisis Pushes Doctors To ‘Breaking Point’
7. MMC-Registered Medical Graduates Nearly Halved In Six Years
8. Amid Halved Housemen Numbers, District Hospitals Omitted From First 2024 Placement Intake
9. MOH Diverting ‘100%’ Nurses From Specialist Clinics To Wards Amid Critical Shortage
10. UiTM Willing To ‘Temporarily’ Open Up Cardiothoracic Surgery Postgrad Programme To Non-Bumi Parallel Pathway Trainees, Graduates: Professor

Not to forget, several heart-breaking letters and pleas for help from anonymous health care workers in the public service:

1. I’m Sorry We Couldn’t Save Your Loved Ones — Seri Manjung Hospital Medical Officer
2. Help, I’m Forced To Work Every Day — Sibu Hospital Medical Officer
3. Kebajikan Kakitangan Perubatan Dan Kesihatan Kerajaan Yang Bekerja Shif Diabaikan Bawah SSPA — Dr A.H.H.
4. Malaysia’s Health Care System Is On The Verge Of Complete And Utter Collapse – Frustrated Medical Officer
5. Plea To The Public: ‘Help Us To Help You’ — Desperate, Overworked Medical Officer
6. Bullying In The Emergency Medicine Fraternity — Physician
7. ‘After 14 Years As A Nurse, My Basic Salary Is Still RM2,600’
8. When Not Sleeping Is A Crime — Perak Health Care Worker
9. Gag Orders On Health Care Workers Suffering Inhumane Working Hours — Dr Frustrated
10. ‘If A Specialist Can Die From Suicide, What More Junior Doctors?’

Last July, CodeBlue posted a tweet about the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy’s warning to Bank Negara that the central bank’s new copayment mandate for health insurance could expose households to financial catastrophe. Our post received 4.4 million views on X.

Our April interview with Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Prof Dr Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar – who called for UiTM to open up its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme to non-Bumiputera trainees – sparked a national debate about the relevance of race-based policies in medicine and higher education.

The only editorial that CodeBlue penned this year was our opposition to the planned privatisation of our national health service under Rakan KKM.

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has yet to hold stakeholder engagements or explain details about Rakan KKM, such as which companies are the legal entities “owning” the programme and how it will pay for human resources, supplies, and services to operate a so-called “premium economy” wing.

Even the basic question of what specialty services will be offered by Rakan KKM in Cyberjaya Hospital, a relatively new facility, hasn’t been answered.

Moving into 2025, the future looks bleak for Malaysia’s health care system. The public health service continues to bleed nurses and doctors across all levels of seniority, while private health care is increasingly unaffordable with a surge in medical insurance premiums and a copayment mandate.