No budget for increase in government nurses' pay - DOH

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III acknowledged before the House appropriations committee that no funds have been allocated to upgrade the measly salary of government nurses, most of whom have opted to work for better pay in hospitals abroad.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said Duque revealed during the budget briefing of the Department of Health (DOH) last week that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has not provided funds for the purpose.

“These nurses are actually looking for work abroad. The government’s refusal to upgrade their salaries and to open new nurse plantilla positions actually contributes to the sorry state of the nation’s health care system,” he said.

According to the opposition lawmaker, the “low and inappropriate” budget of DOH for 2009, now pegged at P27.8 billion, still does not address the problem of the exodus of nurses in the country, one of the “major sicknesses of the health care system of the country.”

“The current nurse-to-patient ratio in government hospitals is 1:45 per shift in a ward setting. This is a far cry from the ideal ratio based on World Health Organization standards of 1:15 per shift in a ward setting,” Ocampo said.

The former NDF spokesman urged the House appropriations committee under Quirino Rep. Junie Cua to realign funds from other agencies and start “upgrading” the salaries of nurses in order to hire more nurses in government hospitals.

“We have a lot of trained nurses and hospitals need more nurses. The DOH should see the simple logic that it can drastically reduce the lack of nurses in hospitals if it works to create more plantilla positions and immediately upgrade nurses’ salaries,” Ocampo said.

The deputy minority leader lamented there is again “no appropriation” for the implementation of Section 23 of Republic Act 9173 (Nursing Act of 2002) that raises the minimum base pay of nurses working in public health institutions.

Under the law, the salary grade of nurses should be increased to 15, which is around P16,000 to P17,000 monthly, as prescribed under Republic Act 6758, or the Compensation and Classification Act of 1989.

Although this year’s DOH budget is up by 72 percent from its P19.6-billion budget in 2008, Ocampo insisted that this is still insufficient.

He also decried the “yearly refusal of the executive to appropriate funds for the immediate upgrading of salaries of nurses.”

“This major hike in the DOH budget is actually still not enough. It does not address the problematic compensation and employment of nurses in the government health care system. Realignments must be done by the Appropriations Committee,” he said.

The Professional Regulation Commission recently acknowledged an oversupply of about 400,000 nurses in the country.