After nearly 15 years of unchanged allowances for medical staff, the Ministry of Health is proposing to increase the allowance to ensure the lives of medical staff - Photo: THU HIEN
Increasing allowances will increase opportunities for medical staff to stick with the profession in the context of heavy workload and high pressure, but the on-call allowance, surgery and procedure allowance, anti-epidemic allowance and meal allowance for medical staff at public hospitals are now "outdated" and no longer suitable. In recent years, tens of thousands of medical staff nationwide have resigned.
High pressure but the main surgeon only receives 280,000 VND/surgery
On the forum of young doctors, the issue of income is always discussed the most when the majority believes that the income in public service units is currently not enough to live on, while the work intensity is very high, especially in the emergency and resuscitation departments... Among them, many people have quietly turned to private clinics with higher incomes.
Less than 17 million VND is the total income (including salary, allowances, and on-call and on-call medical examination fees) of doctor TT with 8 years of experience, currently working in the emergency department of a general hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
With a high-pressure work intensity, no concept of Tet holidays, but an income that is not commensurate, Dr. T. confided that he had thought about quitting his job many times, but because of his concern for his patients and his wife, two children, and parents on both sides, he continued to stick with the profession.
Regarding the recent proposal of the Ministry of Health to increase the allowance for on-call and surgical operations by nearly three times, to assign a second-level salary for medical positions, or to increase the starting salary, Dr. T. said that this is something that he and his fellow doctors have been wishing for for many years, and should be applied soon.
"The current income is not enough to cover living expenses. When the on-call and surgical allowances are increased, it will not only help us stabilize our lives but also give us more motivation to stick with the profession," Dr. T. shared.
Sharing with Tuoi Tre, a doctor working at a tertiary hospital in Ho Chi Minh City also commented that the current on-duty allowance and salary for newly graduated doctors are not commensurate. This has led to many medical staff such as doctors and nurses having difficulty sticking with their profession and switching to private work.
According to this doctor, at the hospital where he works, the 24/7 on-call allowance is about 130,000 VND, in addition to monthly in-kind allowances such as cooking oil, milk... given at the end of the month to medical staff.
This allowance is only "spiritual" compared to the work pressure and health impact. A special surgery usually lasts from 4 to 6 hours, and for cases lasting over 8 hours such as heart surgery or kidney transplant, the main surgeon only receives an allowance of 280,000 VND.
"Many of my colleagues switched to private hospitals or quit their jobs because of low income. A doctor graduates, the training time is long, costly but the salary received is only 7-10 million VND/month (including allowances, not deducting insurance) is not enough to cover living expenses. Therefore, increasing allowances and starting salaries for medical staff is very necessary now," said this doctor.
According to current regulations, for special surgeries, the main surgeon, anesthesiologist or anesthetist are only paid 280,000 VND, and the surgical assistant is 120,000 VND. For type III surgeries, the main surgeon is 50,000 VND, and the surgical assistant is 15,000 VND.
After nearly 15 years of unchanged allowances for medical staff, the Ministry of Health is proposing to increase the allowance to ensure the lives of medical staff - Photo: THU HIEN
Solving the "problem" of doctors quitting their jobs?
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, from the beginning of 2021 to mid-2022, nearly 10,000 medical staff nationwide quit their jobs, most of them in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Dong Nai, An Giang, Da Nang... One of the main reasons is economic pressure, low income and the desire to find a better working environment.
Although the "wave" of medical staff quitting in Ho Chi Minh City has decreased, according to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, in 2024, the city's health sector recorded 642 employees quitting, including 286 doctors, 259 nurses, midwives, and medical technicians, a decrease of 28.5% compared to 2023 (898 employees).
The reason is due to work pressure, low income, switching to work at other public health units, private sector, private clinics to have higher income.
It is worth mentioning that the number of medical staff who quit their jobs had worked for many years in the industry and had a lot of high professional experience. Meanwhile, most of the newly recruited staff were young doctors and nurses who had just graduated and needed a short time to train.
Typically, the rate of resident doctors recruited at public health facilities under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health is not high due to policies to support training and attract them to work at public hospitals. Most of them after graduating tend to work at private hospitals because the working conditions and benefits in the public health system are not attractive.
Recently, responding to voters before the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly on policy reform, the Ministry of Health said it is currently proposing to assign a second-level salary for the positions of doctor, preventive medicine doctor, and pharmacist when recruiting.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health is drafting a decree to replace Decree No. 56/2011 on preferential allowances by profession, expected to be completed in December. Previously, the Ministry of Health planned to submit this draft to the Government in June. In particular, the ministry proposed an allowance of 30 - 70% depending on each group of subjects.
Nearly 15 years and still no change in allowance level
According to the Ministry of Health, the current levels of on-duty allowances, surgery and procedure allowances, epidemic prevention allowances and meal allowances for civil servants, public employees and workers in public health facilities, as applied in accordance with regulations since 2011, are too low and no longer suitable for the current economic and living situation.
According to a new proposal that the Ministry of Health solicited opinions on in April, the on-call and surgical fees for doctors at public hospitals could be increased. For example, the Ministry of Health proposed a surgical allowance for the main surgeon, anesthetist or special main anesthetist of VND790,000, an increase of VND510,000 (more than 2.8 times) compared to the current level of VND280,000.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tang-phu-cap-cho-y-bac-si-can-lam-nhanh-20250725090006162.htm
Comment (0)