Three groups – Health Attendants, Healthcare Assistants and Patient Service Associates
enjoyed 10 per cent wage increase over the past year
It has been almost one year since the Healthcare Cluster Tripartite Workgroup was launched with the aim to encourage productivity initiatives across the public healthcare sector, through the sharing and diffusion of best practices among hospitals. The Workgroup also looked at increasing the employability and wages of lower-income healthcare support staff.
At the National Day Observance Ceremony hosted by Alexandra Health today, the NTUC Healthcare Cluster gave an update on the progress made so far; that some 2,500 workers from the three main groups of healthcare support staff – Health Attendants, Healthcare Assistants and Patient Service Associates (PSA) – have seen their wage increase by 10 per cent over the past one year. These staff generally earn less than $2,000 a month.
At its formation in September last year, the Workgroup had set a target of helping at least 2,000 of these workers move up the wage ladder progressively, so that they can enjoy a base wage increase of between 10 and 20 per cent from 2012 to end 2014.
This achievement by the tripartite partners was made through efforts focusing on three Ups – Up-Skill, Up Career Ladder and Up Productivity – so that jobs or tasks could be carried out Easier, Smarter and Safer and that wages could also go up with the Progressive Wage Model. For example, by using Up-Skill and Up Career Ladder, Tan Tock Seng Hospital was able to create a career pathway for their PSAs. They can now enter at as a PSA and move up the ranks to a Patient Service Executive position. Please see Annex A for more examples carried out by some of our hospitals.
These updates were made by Mr Patrick Tay, Executive Secretary, Healthcare Services Employees’ Union, and Cluster Lead, NTUC Healthcare Cluster, at the National Day Observance Ceremony hosted by Alexandra Health. About 500 mainly staff from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, representatives from the other Public Healthcare Clusters and union leaders from the Cluster’s unions were present.
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