Nearly 15 years, direct allowance unchanged
“A shift lasts from 7:30 a.m. Sunday to Monday, the pay is 115,000 VND/day (24 hours) including meals, on weekdays it is 67,000 VND. Medical staff go to work because of their job and responsibility, if the pay is calculated it is not commensurate. Currently, the basic salary has been adjusted 8 times but the allowance for medical staff remains the same, this is a disadvantage for doctors and nurses,” said a male doctor working at Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi.
The allowance for subjects participating in special surgeries, the main surgeon, anesthesiologist or main anesthetist will receive 280,000 VND; the assistant surgeon, anesthesiologist or assistant anesthetist will receive 200,000 VND and the assistant for the surgery will receive 120,000 VND. Similar to these positions, but in type 1, 2, 3 hospitals, the allowance will be gradually reduced. In type 3, the corresponding allowances are: 50,000 VND, 30,000 VND and 15,000 VND.
Similarly, the allowance for employees on duty is not much better: Employees on duty 24/7 are entitled to an allowance of 115,000 VND/person/shift for grade I and special hospitals; 90,000 VND/person/shift for grade II hospitals...
Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, said that for an organ transplant, the main doctor and the main anesthetist only receive an allowance of 280,000 VND, while the assistant surgeon and the assistant anesthetist receive an allowance of 200,000 VND. For a type 1 surgery, the main doctor receives an allowance of 125,000 VND.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan once shared at the Annual Conference of the Hospital Directors Club of Northern Provinces: The 24-hour on-call allowance for doctors and nurses is very low and inappropriate while the study and training time is longer than other professions. The on-call allowance for medical staff is very low, established many years ago, and is no longer appropriate. After a hard day and night on duty, a doctor at a grade I or special hospital only receives 115,000 VND. A 12-hour night shift for a doctor at a grade III hospital (usually at the district level) only receives more than 30,000 VND, not enough to buy a bowl of pho at current prices.
According to the Vietnam Health Trade Union, from the beginning of 2021 to the first 6 months of 2022, a total of 9,397 health officials resigned or quit their jobs. Some provinces and cities have a high number of officials resigning or quitting their jobs such as: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, An Giang, Da Nang...
Explaining this, Dr. Nguyen Huy Quang - former Director of the Department of Legal Affairs (Ministry of Health) said: It is necessary to have a comprehensive assessment of the current situation of medical staff quitting their jobs. First of all, doctors and nurses quit their jobs due to low income - this is an inevitable condition.
To have medical practice skills recognized by patients, a doctor must have at least ten years of training, coaching, and continuous updating of medical knowledge. At this time, they are 30-35 years old and have to face the burden and responsibility of children and family. A salary of about 5-7 million VND cannot make them feel secure in their work and dedication. Next, there are reasons such as work pressure, pressure from lack of conditions and facilities to perform professional tasks, pressure from society, family and relatives...
Expectations of soon raising allowances for medical staff
The Ministry of Health said that based on the time of application of the basic salary: Basic salary of 830,000 VND from May 1, 2011 (Decree No. 22/2011/ND-CP) to now basic salary of 2,340,000 VND from July 1, 2024 (Decree No. 73/2024/ND-CP) (increase of 182%), the Ministry of Health proposed to increase the allowance for on-duty at public medical facilities, increase the anti-epidemic allowance, and the allowance for surgery and procedures in public medical facilities.
According to the latest proposal of the Ministry of Health, the allowance for employees participating in 24-hour shifts at grade I and special hospitals will increase by VND210,000; the main surgeon of a special surgery will receive an allowance of VND790,000, 2.8 times higher than the current allowance...
Discussing the proposal of the Ministry of Health, a male doctor working at a special central hospital said that in the department, most of the doctors are male and the hospital rotates on duty 4/1, meaning that every 4 days there is 1 day of night duty, and night duty here is emergency duty, busy all night, tired until the next day while the allowance is only 115,000 VND. Therefore, this doctor hopes to soon increase the on-duty allowance to match the efforts of the workers and believes that this is a necessary solution to retain medical staff and civil servants working in the public health sector because the income in the private sector is currently 3 to 6 times higher.
Ms. Ha (name changed), a female doctor currently working at the Thanh Oai District Medical Center (Hanoi), believes that increasing allowances for medical staff is completely appropriate. In general, the current allowance level for medical staff is quite low. Doctors working at medical centers and commune health stations are at an even greater disadvantage. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust allowances and salaries for the health sector as soon as possible at this time.
Dr. Nguyen Huy Quang said that we must focus on increasing the attractiveness of public hospitals to retain doctors and medical staff working in this area.
