Lao Dong Newspaper received a petition from a representative of the Obstetrics Department, Nghi Loc General Hospital (Nghe An), reflecting that doctors and medical staff of the hospital have not yet been paid COVID-19 prevention allowances according to Decree 05/2023/ND-CP of the Government.
According to the petition, in the period from 2021 to 2023, when the COVID-19 epidemic developed complicatedly in Nghe An, Nghi Loc General Hospital was one of the leading medical facilities, undertaking a large volume of epidemic prevention and control tasks. The team of doctors, nurses, technicians and medical staff regularly worked under high pressure, shortage of human resources, and prolonged working intensity.
Hospital medical staff directly participated in collecting community-based samples for testing on a large scale, tracking down chains of infection, organizing and deploying many COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in localities. Many doctors and nurses have to work day and night in isolation areas, COVID-19 patient reception and treatment facilities, while still ensuring regular medical examination and treatment for people.
In the petition, representatives of the collective of medical staff said that many cases have to work continuously in environments with high risk of infection, directly affecting health, income and family life. Some medical staff have contracted COVID-19 during their duties, but still make efforts to return to work as soon as they meet the conditions.
However, to date, the collective of hospital officials and medical staff has not been paid epidemic prevention allowances according to Decree 05/2023/ND-CP, while some other localities have completed the payment of this regime to forces participating in epidemic prevention and control.
Lao Dong Newspaper reporters worked with representatives of the Department of Finance of Nghe An province to clarify the legal basis and funding source for paying epidemic prevention allowances. Representatives of the Department of Finance said that according to current regulations, for autonomous medical service units, the funding for COVID-19 epidemic prevention allowance according to Decree 05/2023/ND-CP is self-balanced by the unit and paid from legal financial sources.
The Department of Finance affirmed that the provincial budget cannot provide financial support in this case because it is not in accordance with legal regulations on budget decentralization. This is an unavoidable situation arising from the unit's financial autonomy mechanism.
Talking to reporters, the leader of Nghi Loc General Hospital said that during the COVID-19 outbreak, the unit's revenue decreased sharply, the financial situation faced many difficulties, and the ability to balance to pay epidemic prevention allowances to medical staff according to regulations was not guaranteed.
However, the unit currently has a source of funds for salary reform set aside from 2018. The hospital is seeking opinions from competent authorities. If approved, this source of funds will be used to pay a part of the COVID-19 epidemic prevention allowance to medical staff, in order to share difficulties and recognize the contributions of the forces directly involved in epidemic prevention and control.
