If employing domestic health officers is enough (to run medical facilities), there is no need to recruit foreign ones, except if they (the foreign workers) are really needed.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Health Bill strictly regulates the recruitment of foreign medical workers at health facilities in Indonesia, head of the legal bureau of the Health Ministry Indah Febrianti said.

"The bill emphasizes (employment) restriction. The employment of foreign medical personnel must be according to the demands of certain health services," she highlighted at a podcast program entitled "KEMENCAST," which was accessed from the ministry’s YouTube channel on Tuesday.

One of the restrictions is that only foreign specialist and sub-specialist medical workers can work in Indonesia, she said.

Still, health facilities will need to consider the competence and availability of local medical workers before recruiting foreign ones, she added.

"If employing domestic health officers is enough (to run medical facilities), there is no need to recruit foreign ones, except if they (the foreign workers) are really needed," she continued.

Before working in Indonesia, foreign medical personnel will need to undergo a competency evaluation, including a competency equalization process according to Indonesian standards.

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The workers will need to take a competency test as well as undergo an adaptation phase at a healthcare facility, which will be supervised by an assessment team.

Febrianti said that one of the important things to be evaluated during the adaptation phase would be the foreign workers’ ability to speak Indonesian properly so that they can communicate well with patients and other personnel at health facilities.

"The Health Bill requires the employers of foreign workers to train the workers to be able to speak Indonesian, which is also in accordance with the provision in the Labor Law,” she pointed out.

The bill also limits the employment of foreign health workers to a certain period of time.

"For instance, (they are only allowed to work in Indonesia) for two years, later it (the work permit) can only be extended for the next two years," the ministry official added.

She said that robotic-based health services are among the health services that currently require the involvement of foreign workers in Indonesia.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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