More than 37,000 allied health professionals (AHPs), pharmacists, and administrative, ancillary, and support employees can anticipate pay hike by the middle of the year.
Announcing this on Wednesday, January 29, the first day of the Chinese New Year, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that this “diverse group” is a “very important part of our system”.
During a doorstop interview at Outram Community Hospital, he said, “We have discussed with the union. We hope to finalise some details, and sometime in the middle of the year, we hope to implement for them.”
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that this salary raise will enable the public healthcare sector to attract and retain such staff. According to the press release, MOH “regularly reviews staff salaries in the public healthcare sector to ensure that the sector continues to offer strong career opportunities”.
26,000 public healthcare nurses to get benefit
It further stated that the last pay increase for AHPs, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, pharmacists, and administrative, ancillary, and support personnel, occurred in 2021.
According to MOH, 26,000 public healthcare nurses would also benefit from pay modifications to stay up with market trends.
MOH added, “These adjustments will be smaller, as they build on the Award for Nurses’ Grace, Excellence and Loyalty (ANGEL) scheme introduced last year, to attract and encourage nurses to build a lifelong career in nursing.”
According to the statement, MOH also introduced pay increases for community care organizations (CCOs) in 2024, providing financing assistance to qualified CCOs to raise employee wages.
Review manpower development initiatives
Additionally, in 2024, the Health Ministry released the first compensation rules for the CCO industry “to provide greater transparency to jobseekers and employees in the sector.”
It stated that the need for healthcare services and labour will only grow as the population ages.
MOH said, “Beyond remuneration, we will continue to review our manpower development initiatives and strengthen our healthcare workforce.”
“We will continue to support mid-career entrants to the sector, improve job opportunities through job redesign and career development, and provide a conducive and safe work environment in our public healthcare sector through our zero-tolerance policy for abuse and harassment,” it added.
