Lots of work, little pay, doctors and nurses silently contribute at the medical station

Patients down but work still a lot

Nowadays, people have better economic conditions, so they often go to medical centers or hospitals at higher levels for medical examination and treatment, and give birth. Commune health stations are therefore also "deserted" for medical examination and treatment. However, that does not mean that the work here is leisurely. Doctors and nurses are still contributing silently, especially with a large amount of preventive medical work. Through the Covid-19 outbreak, the important role of health stations has become even more evident.

Doctor Nguyen Van Phuong has worked at Thanh Hai Commune Health Station, Thanh Ha District (Hai Duong) since 1990. Looking back at 34 years of dedication at the station, Doctor Phuong finds that the work at the station now is much more difficult than before.

In addition to directly examining and treating people, Doctor Phuong and the staff at the station are also in charge of many health target programs and preventive health work to ensure prevention, early detection of disease situations, ensuring food hygiene and safety, having people sign commitments, and going to schools to propagate... Thanh Hai commune has nearly 14,000 people, a large workload, but the staff and human resources are still lacking compared to regulations. Thanh Hai commune health station currently has 7 staff, 3 staff short, or nearly half of the assigned quota. This is also the current situation of many health stations in the province.

Due to the lack of staff, both the station manager and the nurse at the station are responsible for many tasks and programs. "We also examine and dispense medicine to hundreds of patients in the commune with non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. At the same time, we are in charge of a group of medical collaborators, village population, and residential areas to remind vaccination schedules and update population changes. In addition to direct medical examination and treatment, the amount of preventive medical work today is increasing, each person in each area is struggling," Dr. Phuong shared.

At the age of retirement, Doctor Phuong still tinkers with the computer to enter data, make plans to implement programs and projects... Also at this station, young doctors and nurses are silently dedicating themselves every day to the health of the people. Having worked for many years like Doctor Phuong, the total salary and allowances are only more than ten million VND/month, while young doctors and nurses who have just started their career only earn about 5 million VND/month. Doctor Phuong only hopes that the medical sector will not have to continue to streamline the payroll and that the station will soon be able to supplement the missing payroll, increase income to share the work, take better care of people's health and do a good job in preventive medicine.

The salary is too low.

Located along Highway 5 and where many workers live, the staff, doctors and nurses at Cam Phuc Commune Health Station (Cam Giang) have encountered many dangerous situations during night shifts. With many years of experience in the profession, Dr. Vu Thi Men has a wealth of experience having gone through such long nights.

"There are many workers staying in the commune, they often drink, get drunk, get injured and go to the commune health station. At night, I am on duty alone, sometimes the workers come to whine, quarrel, and challenge me, so I have to call the police. Now that people no longer give birth at the station, there are situations like that when on duty at night," said Ms. Men.

Located right next to the police headquarters, it is also a safe place for the doctors and nurses on night duty at Cam Phuc Commune Health Station. Ms. Men has faced this many times so she is less worried, but for young doctors and nurses just starting out in the profession, this is a big challenge because they are often confused and scared. Everyone tells each other that the commune will soon merge and move the Health Station headquarters away from the police headquarters, so they don't know who to call.

Despite the danger, the salary for a day and night shift for doctors and nurses at the station from 2012 to now is still 18,500 VND/shift. On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, it is 47,500 VND/24-hour shift. All staff at the station are assigned and divided into schedules, with one day on duty every other day, ensuring that the station has someone on duty 24/7. The current pay for a day and night shift is too low compared to the current situation and has not been changed. Doctors and nurses at the health station like Ms. Men only hope that this support level will be increased soon.

In such difficult conditions, about 1,000 doctors and nurses at commune, ward and town health stations throughout Hai Duong province are still silently and devotedly contributing. Each person is in charge of a task at the station, but all share the same goal of improving people's health and hope to receive support soon so that their lives can be improved and they can confidently stick with their profession.