Medical allowances begin to change
Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the Ministry of Health has developed a Decree on occupational allowances to replace Decree No. 56/2011/ND-CP dated July 4, 2011 of the Government regulating preferential occupational allowances for civil servants and public employees working at public health facilities according to the process of developing legal documents. The draft of these Decrees is expected to be submitted to the Government in June 2025.
According to the Ministry of Health, Decree 56/2011/ND-CP has contributed to improving income and motivating medical staff. However, due to changes in disease models, the emergence of new epidemics and the increase of non-communicable diseases, especially in the field of preventive medicine, current policies are no longer suitable.
The new draft Decree aims to attract and retain high-quality human resources. The highest preferential allowance according to the profession is up to 70%, applied to subjects such as: Employees working in areas related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, leprosy, mental health, group A infectious diseases, pathology, forensic assessment, level III biosafety testing, doctors working in grassroots health facilities in disadvantaged areas, and preventive medicine staff.
The 60% rate applies to people directly treated for other infectious diseases, emergency 115, medical quarantine, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, mobile biology, nuclear medicine. The levels of 50% and 40% are for other specialties such as anesthesia, resuscitation, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, public health.
Compared to current regulations, the draft expands the beneficiaries of high allowances, especially for grassroots health care in disadvantaged areas. Contract workers at public service units are also included in the scope of application.
Increasing allowances to attract quality human resources for the medical industry
In commenting on the draft Decree on occupational allowances, the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) emphasized the essential role of the infection control team. According to Circular 16/2018/TT-BYT, they belong to preventive medicine, regularly monitor, detect, organize disease isolation in clinical departments, contributing to ensuring the safety of patients and medical staff.
Most infection control officials have to deal with pollution and toxic chemicals every day, but their income is low because they do not receive additional income from medical examination and treatment. More than 20 years of implementation have shown that they always work in conditions lacking human resources, equipment and professional support. Raising the vocational allowance to 60% is necessary to recognize the contribution and attract quality human resources to this field.
Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung - former Head of the Infection Control Department of Bach Mai Hospital, Vice President of the Hanoi Infection Control Association - said that after the Association proposed to increase allowances, the new draft has increased the support level from 40% to 50%. Although this is a positive signal, he said that this level still does not accurately reflect the fairness that the infection control team deserves.
The most reasonable and deserving allowance should be 70%, equal to that of preventive medicine staff. However, the proposal to increase to 60% by the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management - equivalent to the level for employees directly caring for infected patients, emergency care and intensive care - is also an important step forward, very noteworthy - Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung emphasized.
The comments also propose to increase the preferential allowance for nursing department staff to a minimum of 40%. Although they are responsible for managing and supervising care work in many clinical departments, they are currently only receiving a 20% allowance, lower than nursing in the department. This adjustment is necessary to ensure fairness and suitability with the nature of the work.
The draft is expected to contribute to overcoming the shortage of highly qualified medical human resources at the grassroots level, improving the quality of services, especially in grassroots and preventive medicine. Applying reasonable allowances also helps limit the situation of employees quitting their jobs, towards the sustainable development of the public health system.
