GPs Need To Change To Face Stiff Competition - MMA President
Bernama news, March 07, 2010 12:58 PMKUALA LUMUR, March 7 (Bernama) --
General practitioners (GPs) should revamp themselves in light of stiff competition from government and private hospitals and rapid medical science development, says Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr David Quek.
Writing in his column in the latest MMA bulletin, he said the role of GPs was increasingly deprecated and marginalised, and added that they were "a marked and endangered species teetering on the brink of extinction".
Doctors, he said, should realise that times and medical practice had changed and they should look within themselves to re-engineer their modus operandi.
"GPs have to emerge from their cocooned complacency that simply serving quietly and earnestly behind long hours of general practice would suffice. It will not," he added.
Dr Quek said the MMA would assist GPs by organising a summit where all issues and their future challenges could be debated to prepare a comprehensive policy.
He said he hoped that doctors in the public sector would also come forward to provide input for the betterment of the profession's future.
In the same bulletin, MMA member Dr H. Krishna Kumar said 4,000 new doctors were joining the profession every year and this posed great competition to private practitioners.
Another source of competition was the improvement of services provided by government hospitals, where there were now more locums to man the accident and emergency departments, thus reducing the waiting time, he said.
Moreover, all state medical departments were continuously improving the quality of care which was patient-focused, he added.
To compete with such developments, GPs should continuously upgrade treatment with the latest management techniques, provide the personal touch, be economically competitive and have flexible hours, and provide quality service, he said.
-- BERNAMA
Writing in his column in the latest MMA bulletin, he said the role of GPs was increasingly deprecated and marginalised, and added that they were "a marked and endangered species teetering on the brink of extinction".
Doctors, he said, should realise that times and medical practice had changed and they should look within themselves to re-engineer their modus operandi.
"GPs have to emerge from their cocooned complacency that simply serving quietly and earnestly behind long hours of general practice would suffice. It will not," he added.
Dr Quek said the MMA would assist GPs by organising a summit where all issues and their future challenges could be debated to prepare a comprehensive policy.
He said he hoped that doctors in the public sector would also come forward to provide input for the betterment of the profession's future.
In the same bulletin, MMA member Dr H. Krishna Kumar said 4,000 new doctors were joining the profession every year and this posed great competition to private practitioners.
Another source of competition was the improvement of services provided by government hospitals, where there were now more locums to man the accident and emergency departments, thus reducing the waiting time, he said.
Moreover, all state medical departments were continuously improving the quality of care which was patient-focused, he added.
To compete with such developments, GPs should continuously upgrade treatment with the latest management techniques, provide the personal touch, be economically competitive and have flexible hours, and provide quality service, he said.
-- BERNAMA
No comments:
Post a Comment