{
  "id": 11132579,
  "title": "Health Ministry urges UD10 medical officers to report for duty by Oct 7",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/health-ministry-urges-ud10-medical-officers-to-report-for-duty-by-oct",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-01T06:57:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/10/1545397/health-ministry-urges-ud10-medical-officers-report-duty-oct-7"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Health Ministry has issued an urgent call for Grade UD10 medical officers to report for duty immediately and finalize their appointments at their respective Centres of Responsibility by October 7. The ministry announced that these appointments came into effect on September 28, following the ePlacement system's selection. The permanent appointment process for 4,255 medical officers is still in progress, according to the ministry. Dr L Sivanaesan, president of the Malaysian Medical Association, has expressed concern over reports indicating a significant number of medical officers not reporting for permanent postings in Sabah and Sarawak on September 28, particularly when some facilities reported receiving no new medical officers. Earlier, it was reported that the ministry aimed to appoint 560 new permanent medical officers for Sabah this month to tackle the doctor shortage in the state. Dr Brandon Patrick Senagang, chairman of the Sabah MMA, further revealed that most hospitals are experiencing a loss of medical officers, with only 47 out of the planned 138 medical officers from outside Sabah reporting for hospital postings as of the latest data. This represents approximately 34 percent of the expected number. The ministry has advised all involved parties to avoid making premature judgments while the placement process continues to proceed. The ministry stressed that the process of medical officers reporting for duty at their designated placement facilities is ongoing and has not yet been fully completed.",
  "summary": "KOTA KINABALU: The Health Ministry has called on medical officers appointed to Grade UD10 to report for duty immediately and complete the process at their respective Centres of Responsibility (PTj) by Oct 7.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}