6,889 doctors, nurses face ax

81 dentists also expected to lose jobs as Palace plans to downsize gov’t health personnel in 2017

By Mario B. Casayuran, Manila Bulletin, November 13, 2016

A total of 6,970 nurses, doctors, and dentists face the prospect of losing their jobs next year unless Congress overrides Malacañang’s plan to drastically downsize the number of frontline health personnel under the proposed budget of the Department of Health (DOH) for 2017.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said that based on the proposed budget, the DOH’s Doctor to the Barrios program will trim down the number of physicians assigned to low-income towns from 946 this year to only 435 next year, making 511 government doctors jobless next year.

The senator said the number of DOH-paid dentists who will be assigned to rural clinics will also be reduced from the 2016 level of 324 to 243 next year, leaving 81 dentists jobless.

But the biggest cut come from the deployment of nurses – from 15,727 this year to 9,349 in 2017 – which means 6,378 nurses contracted under the Nurse Deployment Program will be axed.

While fewer doctors, nurses, and dentists will be dispatched next year, the number of medical technologists and midwives hired would stay at 308 and 3,100, respectively.

With 6,970 expected to lose their jobs in 2017, Recto called on his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives to rescue these medical workers by overriding the Palace plan.

Recto made the appeal as the proposed budget for the DOH’s grassroots manpower deployment program in 2017 would not be able to retain all currently hired personnel.

He said the Senate could explore many options “to save these jobs or at least cushion the effects of what amounts to be a mass retrenchment.”

“First, we can infuse funds. The more than 6,000 affected nurses alone would require something like P2 billion,” Recto said.

“We can also insert a provision in the national budget that would state that the affected personnel should have first priority in being absorbed by other or new programs of the Rural Health Practice Program (RHPP),” he said. RHPP is the official name of the rural manpower assignment project.

Another option is to insert a “firewall” provision, exempting poor, distant towns from the personnel cuts, Recto said. “We can insist that the status quo be maintained for 3rd class to 6th class towns.”

Recto said he is working closely with, and is in full support of the solutions being pursued by Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell Ubial on how to minimize the displacement “which was something that was merely imposed on the DOH.”

The proposed cut was triggered by the payroll ceiling given to DOH for 2017 which could not accommodate the retention of all RHPP personnel as it has to fund the second round salary increases for its regular personnel under the Salary Standardization Law IV.

Overall, RHPP slots will be slashed from the current 21,118 to 18,825 next year.

To augment the number of health professionals in impoverished towns, the DOH pays for the salaries of those it has hired under the RHPP.

The good news is that the DOH will hire 2,587 UHC (Universal Health Coverage) implementers and 2,803 Public Health Associates (PHAs), he said. PHAs are either nurses or nursing associates who will be paid P19,000 a month.

UHC implementers, on the other hand, can be any licensed health professional who will be given a salary of P26,000 a month or a doctor whose take-home pay is P56,000 monthly.

“The displaced personnel should be accommodated in the above programs,” Recto said. “And their pay should be augmented by local counterpart. Kung hindi lahat ma-absorb, then Congress should fund the deficit.”

RHPP’s proposed budget for 2017 is P7.03 billion.