Thai Nurses Unimpressed By Offer Of Civil Servant Status To 4,000 Medical Workers

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Nurses unimpressed by offer of civil servant status to 4,000 medical workers

PUANGCHOMPOO PRASERT

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry yesterday offered to grant immediate civil-servant status to 4,000 medical workers, including nurses, and - at the very least - offer longer contracts to other temporary employees, but nurses were sceptical about the move, saying the number was too small.

The offer follows last month's protest by thousands of nurses demanding recruitment into the civil service. Many have been working at state hospitals for years in the hope of becoming civil servants, but continue to be categorised as temporary employees.

The nurses have complained of a huge workload, while the contractual basis of their employment leaves them insecure about their careers and futures.

Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong made the offer yesterday at a meeting of representatives of the protesting nurses.

He said 4,000 positions in the civil service would be made available to medical workers to solve shortages at state hospitals. Priorities would be given to medical workers who should have been recruited as civil servants between 2005 and 2007.

Pradit said medical workers who do not receive civil-servant status in this round would be recruited as employees of the Public Health Ministry. While awaiting recruitment, they will receive longer-term employment contracts.

"The contracts will be valid for five to 10 years," Pradit said.

He added that salary adjustments would also be provided for these medical workers. Their salaries, he said, might be even higher than those of civil servants.

However, nurse representative Ekachai Fatai said the nurses' network could not accept Pradit's offer.

"We think the available civil-servant seats for nurses will stand at just 1,000, because there are abylso medical workers in other fields," he said.

He said such the number was too small, given that there were about 17,000 temporary-employee nurses at state hospitals across the country.

On the offer to recruit medical workers as employees of the Public Health Ministry, Ekachai said if all medical workers - including doctors and dentists - received the same treatment, the nurses' network might agree to it.

"We have to do away with inequality," Ekachai said.

He said the network would hold meetings to consider the components of the offer and plan their next step.

Ekachai said that if the nurses did not get a satisfactory offer by January, they might stage another big protest, hold a nationwide strike or even quit.

"In fact, we hope all 17,000 temporary-employee nurses will get civil-servant status," he said.

Pradit said a panel would be established to find a proper solution and representatives of all parties concerned would sit on this panel.

"It's not that the Public Health Ministry doesn't want to recruit all the nurses. It's just that we also have to take into account fiscal policy and the available funds," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-11-08

[jaltsc]

'Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong made the offer yesterday at a meeting of representatives of the protesting nurses."

How to save face and lose respect in one easy lesson.

"There is no better test of a man’s integrity than his behavior when he is wrong" - Marvin Williams

Not much integrity going around these days.

[bigbamboo]

Come on Yingluck..... your sisters need you.

[culicine]

There are many perks associated with being a civil servant, that's why why they are pushing it....a nice pension, free medical services for their immediate family, and yearly increases. My wife's salary goes up about 6% per year. However workers can get lazy as it's very hard to fire them - they can get move to 'inactive posts', as we are well aware. It would be better to make elevation to civil service status performance based.

[longtom]

"It's not that the Public Health Ministry doesn't want to recruit all the nurses. It's just that we also have to take into account fiscal policy and the available funds," he said.

Maybe the nurses should start planting rice on the hospital premises, there seem to be plenty of billions around for that purpose.

[jerrysteve]

Good for them. 2 Thumbs Up

[hansnl]

There are many perks associated with being a civil servant, that's why why they are pushing it....a nice pension, free medical services for their immediate family, and yearly increases. My wife's salary goes up about 6% per year. However workers can get lazy as it's very hard to fire them - they can get move to 'inactive posts', as we are well aware. It would be better to make elevation to civil service status performance based.

BS!

It is simply a fact those nurses on "temporary" contracts will stay in the state hospitals.

It is a shameful thing to do that, more because everybody know those nurses are there to stay.

And to pronounce they will get lazy when getting a civil status is demeaning.

And what is wrong in building up a pension, what is wrong with getting raises, what is wrong with free medical services?

Should those "perks" not be part and parcel of any work-relation?

And I assure you, those moving to inactive posts is normally only available for high placed civil servants.

Others get fired, get "promoted" to functions or places where it is not fun to be, put on half-pay, or simply advised to look for a job somewhere else.

[asiawatcher]

If there are 17,000 presently working in State hospitals already, just covert that to full employment. It does not lessen the demand, but offering 4,000 civil servant status? What a low compromise.

[RubbaJohnny]

I suppose there's not much graft in exploiting humanitarian needs.

I guess the "Gold Card "types won't ever meet a pblic service nurse having there needs met in expensive private places with the ultimate happy ending.

Never cease to amaze me the compassion deficit in a so called Buddhist state, perhaps the relif of sufering depends how much compassion you can afford!

I recommend all falangs make the ultimate life insurance and marry a Dr or at least a keen nurse

Edited November 8, 2012 by RubbaJohnny

[Dap]

"It's not that the Public Health Ministry doesn't want to recruit all the nurses. It's just that we also have to take into account fiscal policy and the available funds," he said.

Maybe the nurses should start planting rice on the hospital premises, there seem to be plenty of billions around for that purpose.

Really! What with the government throwing untold billions of baht at the rice farce you would think some rocket scientist could figure a way to funnel a bit of that to the much more necessary and worthy medical workers. I won't hold my breath.

[EarthAlien]

"In fact, we hope all 17,000 temporary-employee nurses will get civil-servant status," he said.

Loosely interpreted would mean that whilst there'll be no pay rises,.. all will get shiny white naval uniforms complete with medals and sashes!

Sounds like a great deal to me (for the govt.)

[drdoom6996]

Come on Yingluck..... your sisters need you.

Man are you barking up the wrong tree. Her SISTERS as you call them, don't shop where she shops, eat where she eats, don't have a brother with more money than sense. Do you really think she cares? IMHO the only way she will care is if her brother tells her to care.

[drdoom6996]

"It's not that the Public Health Ministry doesn't want to recruit all the nurses. It's just that we also have to take into account fiscal policy and the available funds," he said.

Maybe the nurses should start planting rice on the hospital premises, there seem to be plenty of billions around for that purpose.

Really! What with the government throwing untold billions of baht at the rice farce you would think some rocket scientist could figure a way to funnel a bit of that to the much more necessary and worthy medical workers. I won't hold my breath.

I agree, but we forget that you must care about somebody besides yourself. And this government, one by one, thinks only about themselves. They have little time for the COMMON man or woman.

[pomchop]

Approximately how much does the average nurse in thailand make per year? Does BKK like bumrungrad pay a lot more than a public hospital??

[bigbamboo]

Come on Yingluck..... your sisters need you.

Man are you barking up the wrong tree. Her SISTERS as you call them, don't shop where she shops, eat where she eats, don't have a brother with more money than sense. Do you really think she cares? IMHO the only way she will care is if her brother tells her to care.

Irony by-pass.

[citizen33]

This is a hangover from the civil service reforms introduced some years ago, As in Western countries that introduced 'new public management reforms', there was a drive to downsize the core civil service and convert some posts into 'public service officer' positions, with less favourable fringe benefits. This affected professionals in the MoPH system, other government departments and also some university lecturers. I think that the nurses' gripe is that some of the other health professions get more favourable treatment when it comes to the quota of civil service posts set. Some of the officer posts date back to a time when some provinces had more money to appoint staff than the number of civil service posts allocated, but that seems less of a problem now. If you are looking for the culprits, some of the earliest advocates of NPM reform were Mrs T, Keith Joseph and Michael Heseltine.

[mike123ca]

Do the nurses have a union?

If not, I don't see how they could go about and change the

working conditions on their own.

I keep telling my niece who is studying to be a nurse to also try

to learn English.I tell her that nurses receive far superior wages

in other countries. I don't think she believes me from the

confused look she gives me.

[Buchholz]

* moved to correct thread

Edited November 23, 2012 by Buchholz