Salaries for nurses and doctors, the budget will tell Government commitment

By The Editorial Board 29 May 2023, 10:00AM

We need more people like Dr. Lucilla Ah Ching-Sefo, the Head of the Ophthalmology Unit at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital (T.T.M.) and the only eye specialist in Samoa.

She was offered more money to work in American Samoa but she has turned it down. She is definitely one in a million, who has put family and country first.

On Friday, Dr. Ah Ching-Sefo confirmed to the Samoa Observer that she has decided to stay in Samoa and will not be taking up the job offer from the territory.

Imagine losing a national treasure like her. We would have one less specialist at a time when the Ministry of Health is aiming at getting more doctors and nurses who are specialists. However, the ugly truth is we are losing more health workers than we are hiring.

We need more than 500 nurses to have the required number at work. There was an attempt to get private practitioners to fill the void but not one put their hands up when the expression of interest was advertised.

The doctors met on Friday and Saturday and their call to the Government has been to consider increasing the salaries of medical practitioners working in public hospitals and address overtime pay.

The call for action came from the President of the Samoa Medical Association (S.M.A.) 2023-2024, Taule'ale'ausumai Dr. Titi Lamese. He made a direct appeal to the Deputy Prime Minister, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio.

Tuala was asked to put forward the request from the association to the Cabinet. Taule'ale'ausumai made the request with a sense of humour, saying development for the Government should "move forward not backward".

Taule'ale'ausumai also asked the Deputy Prime Minister to raise the issue of overtime in the Cabinet and ask the Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) to ensure that all doctors and nurses are getting paid for working overtime.

He added that the association would not back down from its demands for better salaries and overtime pay without a fight.

He also emphasised that healthcare is widely regarded as a fundamental right for all humans and continues to be a top priority for any government of the day in Samoa and abroad.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa said that health and education were a priority for the Government.

So what does this mean? Does it mean that there will be budgetary allocation to ensure that doctors and nurses are getting a pay rise? Does it mean that all overtime pay which is owed to them will be paid?

Not every medical practitioner and nurse is like Dr Ah Ching-Sefo who will forgo the extra cash. Just recently nurses have left the hospital to work as paramedics in the ambulance service. There are more leaving for seasonal work and to work in other countries.

Same is the case for the doctors. Why would they not? Money is the best motivator. It is a fact. The other fact is that we will continue to lose these professionals if the Government does not increase their salaries.

Where do we get the money from? We have had more than enough to spend on a year-long celebration of independence and have used more than $2 million to print one million $60 tala notes. Was the year-long celebration necessary? Perhaps to lift the moods of the people who had been locked out from the rest of the world but it could have been used for a purpose such as raising the salaries of doctors and nurses.

American Samoa is very quick to poach our specialists. They pay much more in American dollars and the perks are way better than what they are being offered by the Ministry of Health.

Even the dentists who met on Thursday highlighted that they have one dentist for every 2000 patients. There is so much workload on one dentist, so when he or she is offered a better paying job with a lesser workload, you guessed it, he or she often takes that opportunity.

If the Government is really serious about improving the health system, the first thing that needs to be done is increasing the salaries of doctors and nurses and investing more into health related infrastructure.

At the end of next month, the Government will announce the national budget. It will be then the nation will get to know how seriously committed the Government is in improving the public health system.

By The Editorial Board 29 May 2023, 10:00AM
Samoa Observer

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