Proposal to increase starting salary of doctors

On the afternoon of December 2, during the discussion session at the 13th Congress of the Vietnam Trade Union, representing nearly 500,000 union members, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Binh - Chairman of the Vietnam Health Trade Union - proposed solutions related to salaries and allowances for medical staff.

Doctors have the same salary as bachelors after graduation.

According to Ms. Pham Thanh Binh, the medical industry is unique with high qualifications and quality of labor. To get a practice certificate and work at medical facilities, a doctor must spend 7.5 years. Of which, there are 6 years of university study and 18 months of practice after graduation, while a bachelor only studies for 4 years. However, upon graduation, the salary, grade, and allowances are the same.

Therefore, the Chairman of the Health Trade Union proposed that the Government submit to the National Assembly for consideration that doctors and preventive medicine doctors be ranked at level 2 salary for all job titles.

Competent authorities shall study appropriate salary payment mechanisms or apply enterprise salary mechanisms to public service units that ensure regular expenditures and investment expenditures (group 1) and public service units that self-guarantee regular expenditures (group 2).

Proposal to increase allowance according to new basic salary

Regarding on-call allowances, Ms. Binh stated that the allowances for civil servants, public employees, and workers in public health facilities according to Decision 73/2011 are too low and no longer appropriate. For example, on-call on a normal day is 18,750 VND/day (on call 16/24 hours), 25,000 VND/day (on call 24/24 hours) according to the basic salary in 2011, which is 830,000 VND.

Ms. Binh suggested that the Government could consider raising the on-duty allowance according to the salary level in Decree 24/2023, which stipulates that the basic salary from July 1, 2023 is 1.8 million VND.

Regarding preferential allowances for professions, she cited that the Government has issued Decree 05/2023 on the regime for civil servants and public employees at public health facilities, according to which 100% allowance applies to regular civil servants who directly work in preventive medicine.

However, the decree only applies from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.

"The Government is requested to consider extending the duration of the above decree and expanding it to the grassroots healthcare sector to receive allowances. Direct allowances and professional incentives and seniority should be converted to calculate the new salary level that will be applied from July 1, 2024 for the healthcare sector," Ms. Pham Thanh Binh proposed.

While reading his speech, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Binh was moved when recalling the story of the medical industry "stretching itself" to fight the epidemic and difficulties in recent times.

"Surely the whole country cannot forget the image of the white-shirted soldiers having to leave their loved ones and families, volunteering to go to the epidemic's epicenters on battlefields from Ha Loi - Me Linh - Hanoi, Son Loi - Vinh Phuc, to Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Da Nang and then the southern provinces.

Many doctors have young children, elderly mothers, and underlying diseases, but the white-shirt soldiers have become the main force, bravely and bravely fighting on the front lines against the epidemic," said Ms. Pham Thanh Binh.

During the epidemic, the Health Union advised to increase nutritional support of 1 million VND for each medical and pharmaceutical staff and student sent to reinforce the southern provinces and cities or provide special support of 2 million VND/person sent to strengthen the fight against the epidemic mobilized by the Ministry of Health.