I READ with concern Health Minister Gan Kim Yong's announcement
that his ministry will review salaries of doctors in an attempt to
alleviate attrition of doctors in public hospitals ('MOH to review
doctors' pay'; Wednesday).
While it is important to ensure that physicians are paid a fair
wage, we must not resort to only remuneration to address the
shortage of public sector health-care professionals. In tandem, we
must examine the root cause of this shortage and address its
constraints.
We should ramp up capacity in local universities to capitalise
on the strong interest among our youth to pursue medicine as a
vocation.
As we develop Singapore as a health-care hub for the region and
more affluent foreign patients come here for treatment, we must be
aware of the squeeze on an already tight labour pool.
Perhaps we should have in place policies to ensure that the
needs of our local community are met before we further expand
services to others.
After all, health care is a core sector for any nation and it is
impossible for the average Singaporean to compete with affluent
foreigners for scarce services.
As Singapore ages and chronic ailments become even more
prevalent, we will need to ensure a sufficient pool of committed
and compassionate doctors to attend to the needs of the
elderly.
If we rely solely on compensation to retain talent in public
health, we may inadvertently price out good physician care from the
reach of ordinary Singaporeans.
Dr Paulin Tay Straughan
FORUM NOTE: The writer is a former Nominated Member of
Parliament.
