7 February 2007
The National Healthcare Group (NHG) and the Singapore Health Services (SHS) are pleased to announce that they have successfully completed negotiations for their respective collective agreements with the Healthcare Services Employees Union (HSEU). Nurses and allied health will benefit from salary increases and enhancements to the benefits package. The new salary will take effect on 1 February 2007.
Nurses stand to enjoy an increase of 3 to 7 per cent in salaries. Allied Health practitioners can expect an increase of 2 to 6 per cent increase in their remuneration. The salary adjustments for both nurses and allied health staff range from an average of $30 to $250 a month.
Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) are performing many of the tasks previously executed by nurses such as changing, feeding and bathing of patients. HCA has been identified as an occupation with growing demand and more locals are encouraged to join the HCA workforce. They too will be given an additional monthly allowance, of about 2.5%, for performing basic nursing duties, in addition to an average salary increase of the same amount.
The two public healthcare clusters employ a total of 25,600, out of which 56% are nurses and allied heath staff.
The enhancements are made possible with the support of the Ministry of Health which is providing additional funding of $28m per year.
Objectives of Enhanced Pay Package
01 Recognition
Across-the-board salary adjustment
for nurses and allied health staff was
last done in 2000/2001. The SARS crisis
in 2003 and the threat of new emerging
diseases have highlighted the important
role played by nurses and allied health
staff in the healthcare landscape. The
latest adjustment is a major step towards
better aligning the salaries of these
key personnel with the improving job
market and optimistic economic forecasts.
02 Evolving Job Nature of Nursing
Nursing has always been a physically,
mentally and emotionally demanding job.
With the increasing leverage on technology
in tandem with medical advancements,
nurses today are required to handle more
complex equipment and procedures. Over
the years, the nursing profession has
upgraded its skills and knowledge to
take on a broader job scope. Increasingly,
nurses are performing tasks that traditionally
were performed by junior doctors and
are now more involved in research and
education. The remuneration of nurses
would therefore need to be adjusted to
reflect the higher value-added role they
perform.
03 Changing Healthcare Needs
More nurses and allied health staff will
be needed to provide care for an ageing
population with rising expectations. This
is especially true for Singapore, which
has the region’s fastest ageing population,
superseding even Japan. Over 20 years,
the proportion of Singapore residents aged
65 and above is projected to double. To
help meet these increasing needs, various
efforts are in place to increase the pool
of healthcare professionals in Singapore.
For example, the target is to increase
the training intake of nurses from 1,600
to 2,000 per year, physiotherapists from
45 to 80 per year and occupational therapists
from 45 to 60 per year.
Multi-pronged Strategy
The two clusters and their unions have adopted a multi-pronged approach to recruit as well as retain the best in nursing and allied health.
Besides salary adjustments and improvements in medical benefits and shift allowances, various initiatives such as flexible work arrangements and family care leave to improve work-life balance for all our staff, have been implemented.
We are collaborating with various partners to widen the pool of nurses and allied health staff. Diploma in nursing is now offered by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, in addition to Nanyang Polytechnic. The National University of Singapore (NUS) also launched its first local degree programme for nursing in 2006. Take-up rates for both the diploma and degree courses have been very good.
In addition, we have been partnering the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) since year 2003 to attract mid-career entrants to the healthcare industry. NHG and Singhealth have sponsored over 350 nurses under the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme (SMCP).
We are also working with WDA to accredit training for allied health assistants (occupational therapy assistants and physiotherapy assistants).
Conclusion
Healthcare is a critical industry in Singapore, against a backdrop of ageing population, rising consumer expectations and emergence of infectious diseases. Unlike many other industries, healthcare is labour intensive and the quality of its staff determines the quality of care and services provided to patients. It is crucial therefore that we employ and retain good staff, through a holistic, long-term and sustained approach.
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