Fewer doctors leaving public sector after pay review
SINGAPORE — The percentage of public sector doctors leaving for the private sector has fallen over the past three years, from 6.5 per cent in 2011 to 5.8 per cent last year, Minister of State (Health) Lam Pin Min said in Parliament yesterday.
This comes after the Ministry of Health (MOH) worked with public healthcare institutions to implement, in two phases, a new pay framework for doctors, in 2012 and last year.
The MOH previously announced that senior doctors and dentists in the public sector would get a 9 per cent pay rise.
Responding to a question filed by Nominated Member of Parliament Benedict Tan on the outcome of the latest salary review for public sector doctors, Dr Lam noted that the number of doctors working in the public sector has risen. Between 2011 and last year, this figure grew by 34 per cent to about 6,500.
“Following the review, our public healthcare institutions are more aligned in terms of principles and structures of doctors’ remuneration, while retaining some flexibility to manage individual packages for talent retention purposes,” he said.
Dr Lam also said the public healthcare sector has provided opportunities for continuing training and development, so doctors can manage more challenging clinical cases, guide future generations of doctors and undertake research to improve the quality of care.
Efforts have also been undertaken by public healthcare institutions to improve doctors’ work environment, including implementing shorter rotating shifts, having protected time for structured learning and adopting information technology to streamline and minimise workload.
“Our aim is to retain sufficient good doctors within the public healthcare sector to ensure that we can continue to deliver good quality care to Singaporeans,” said Dr Lam.
