Retaining talented, experienced doctors in public hospitals is a continual challenge.
Having been in the healthcare sector for 22 years, in both the public and private sector and now as a marketing manager, I have observed that nearly every specialist who leaves for the private sector would deny that money is the motivation. With the widening gap in earnings, however, any doctor with a family to support would consider making the switch sooner rather than later.
Even with the free flow of information today, medical care continues to be lucrative because patients usually consult their doctors with complete trust and submit to the recommended treatments and charges, which they find too perplexing to question.
Public hospitals cannot continually chase the market by increasing the salaries of specialists. These doctors must be paid well, but it is an exercise in futility to try to close the gap between the private and public sectors.
Their departure is seen as inevitable, since the public sector’s role has traditionally been to train young doctors. However, doctors leave for myriad reasons that go beyond money, such as more time for their patients, families and themselves.
The frustration and limitations imposed by public hospital administrators is enough to drive senior doctors up the wall and out the door. Many specialists spend half their working day on administrative matters instead of patient care and research.
A lot of older doctors leave because they have no say in the direction of the hospital, and their feedback and suggestions are not welcomed by management.
Younger doctors aim to become specialists and build their reputation before going into private practice. Many succumb to the push factor at an increasingly earlier age, after seeing how senior doctors are treated.
Some senior consultants feel uncertain about their continued employment. Faced with being put to pasture before their time or being offered short-term contractual terms when they reach retirement age, they find the independence of private practice hard to resist.
The escape from unproductive paperwork and the freedom to decide their own retirement are too attractive to pass up.
An exodus of experienced specialists would lead to younger doctors losing their teachers and role models. Subsidised patients also lose out, as the senior consultants’ experience is no longer available to them.
Singapore may not be able to compete as a regional medical hub for long, as our neighbours remain significantly cheaper even as they acquire new capabilities and modern facilities. We must go into research and perfect new skills.
Since opportunities for research are limited in the private sector, progress can be made only at teaching hospitals possessing a rigorous peer-review procedure with the right mentors.
For this to happen, the Health Ministry must build strong institutions and do all within its power to retain doctors with the right values to help Singapore advance medically.
Having been in the healthcare sector for 22 years, in both the public and private sector and now as a marketing manager, I have observed that nearly every specialist who leaves for the private sector would deny that money is the motivation. With the widening gap in earnings, however, any doctor with a family to support would consider making the switch sooner rather than later.
Even with the free flow of information today, medical care continues to be lucrative because patients usually consult their doctors with complete trust and submit to the recommended treatments and charges, which they find too perplexing to question.
Public hospitals cannot continually chase the market by increasing the salaries of specialists. These doctors must be paid well, but it is an exercise in futility to try to close the gap between the private and public sectors.
Their departure is seen as inevitable, since the public sector’s role has traditionally been to train young doctors. However, doctors leave for myriad reasons that go beyond money, such as more time for their patients, families and themselves.
The frustration and limitations imposed by public hospital administrators is enough to drive senior doctors up the wall and out the door. Many specialists spend half their working day on administrative matters instead of patient care and research.
A lot of older doctors leave because they have no say in the direction of the hospital, and their feedback and suggestions are not welcomed by management.
Younger doctors aim to become specialists and build their reputation before going into private practice. Many succumb to the push factor at an increasingly earlier age, after seeing how senior doctors are treated.
Some senior consultants feel uncertain about their continued employment. Faced with being put to pasture before their time or being offered short-term contractual terms when they reach retirement age, they find the independence of private practice hard to resist.
The escape from unproductive paperwork and the freedom to decide their own retirement are too attractive to pass up.
An exodus of experienced specialists would lead to younger doctors losing their teachers and role models. Subsidised patients also lose out, as the senior consultants’ experience is no longer available to them.
Singapore may not be able to compete as a regional medical hub for long, as our neighbours remain significantly cheaper even as they acquire new capabilities and modern facilities. We must go into research and perfect new skills.
Since opportunities for research are limited in the private sector, progress can be made only at teaching hospitals possessing a rigorous peer-review procedure with the right mentors.
For this to happen, the Health Ministry must build strong institutions and do all within its power to retain doctors with the right values to help Singapore advance medically.
