More details emerge, not only of the increase in APC Fees but proposed Amendments to the Medical Act. This was posted by Dr. H Krishna Kumar in the MMA FB Page and reproduced here for your reference.
MALAYSIAN MEDICAL ACT – NEW REGULATIONS
BRIEFING BY DATUK DR. ZAKI IN MMC ON 2/7/14
There was a meeting conducted by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) to brief the stakeholders on the changes with the new regulations. We were briefed on some of the changes but were not given copies of the documents as it has not been finalised. It may be up in the MMC website later for public feedback and everyone can give their feedback during this time. this will also be presented to the Minister shortly.
There will be several new committees formed with this new Act. They include the ‘Fitness to Practise’, ‘National specialist Register’, Disciplinary Board and the Complaints Management Committee (CMC).
ELECTIONS
In the future there will be 15 members elected from the Peninsula, 1 each from Sabah and Sarawak. In the elections, the President (Director General of Health) is the returning officer. He may appoint assistants to assist him. There is provision for electronic voting in the future. 3 members from the public sector and 3 members from the private sector will be appointed by the Minister. There will be another 9 appointed from the universities bith private and public.
Another change in the elections is that candidates may be allowed to display information of themselves to the voters as in MMA elections provided it is approved by the Council. there are currently about 35000 registered practioners but only about 2000 who vote representing about 6% of the eligible voters.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
There is an Education committee under Regulation 26. It compromises of
A chairman
2 from the university
2 from non-university
1 public sector representative
1 private sector representative
1 non-council member and
1 from the Academy of Medicine
They will determine the standard and skills required for a university to be recognised. It will also determine the standard of proficiency on graduation. It will check all training programmes. its area of coverage will include post graduate qualification as well. It has also been entrusted to develop and promote the the postgraduate medical education through the determination of the content and standards as well as approving the training institutions and the qualification of candidates.
One of the primary issues of contention will be its power to determine standards for private general practise. Even though, they have not mentioned the standards suggested, but it appears that they may determine the minimum qualification to set up primary general practise. In anticipation of this major change, I would advice all those contemplating private practise to quickly embark on it before limitations are set in motion.
CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Continuous Professional Development is required in the future. It is currently not being placed in the regulations for the renewal of the Annual Practise Certificate (APC) for the moment. There are currently 3 organisations appointed for the provision of these points i.e. MMA for the private primary practitioners, Academy of Medicine for the Private Specialists and the Ministry of Health for all government servants. The minimum number of points required annually has not been determined yet. It is postulated that there will be integration or unification of all 3 systems but this has not been formulated yet.
COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (CMC)
With the implementation of the new regulations, all complaints will go to the Council instead of the President. The Council will refer the complaint CMC. CMC will then appoint a Preliminary Investigating Committee (PIC) to go through the documents with regards to the complaint. There will be time frames for each section of the process. They will either dismiss the complaint or proceed to a full day hearing and disciplinary meeting after referring the case to the Disciplinary Board (DB). There will be many PICs addressing a complaint each.
In the DB, there will be a representative from the lay person. It will function as the current PIC. After the hearing, it can dismiss the case or refer the case to the Council for action or for mediation. The Council will then decide to fine, suspend or take any other necessary disciplinary action. Something new in the regulations, is that the Council can call back cases that have been dismissed by the PIC or DB and the complainant can cross examine the doctor.
FEES
With the corporatisation of the MMC as an independent body, it will have to generate its own income. Therefore it plans to increase the fees for various registrations and certificates. They include
SUBJECT
OLD FEES
NEW FEES
Provisional Registration
20
100
Full Registration
100
500
Annual Practising Certificate
50
300
Penalty for APC
50
50
Temprary Practising Certificate
50
500
Re-entry into the Register
0
500
Medical Qualifying Board
200
1000
Specialist Register (NSR – for 5 years)
0
1500
This is not comprehensive but what I have managed to recall and understand from the meeting.
Dr. H. Krishna Kumar
For Malaysian doctors, I have also added this to the ongoing thread in the Dobbs Doctors Forum (if you are not yet a member of the Dobbs forum, do Register Here. Registration is free for all Malaysian doctors)