Ministry to give answers for nurses by next month

The Public Health Ministry has said that it will start looking for a way to solve the shortage of nursing staff and see if the 17,000 nurses working on temporary contracts can be given permanent status by next month.
This move comes after some 3,000 part-time nurses gathered in front of Government House yesterday and submitted a petition calling for job security and a reduced workload.
The protesters said the government had three months to decide, otherwise all 17,000 nurses currently working on temporary contracts at state hospitals would quit and find work at private hospitals.
Some of these nurses have been working as part-timers for more than 10 years now.
Yesterday, the Public Health Ministry’s newly appointed permanent secretary Dr Narong Sahamethaphat said the ministry was working with the Office of the Civil Service Commission and Finance Ministry to find out how temporary nurses could be given civil-servant status.
“I hope that by November we will know how many temporary nurses we can grant permanent contracts to,” he told the nurses protesting outside Government House.
The ministry said it would also extend medical and other welfare benefits to not just temporary nurses but to other temporary staff as well. There are about 160,000 people working on a temporary basis for the Public Health Ministry compared to 150,000 civil servants.
Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri also said he should know by next month how many temporary nurses could be granted permanent employment.
The ministry is also planning to ask the government to allocate another 70,000 civil servant positions to resolve the shortage of medical workers. Of this number, some 17,000 are working as temporary nurses.
However, government agencies are not likely to agree to give permanent contracts to all 17,000 nurses, because it could become a huge financial burden.
Sittipong Siriprathum, 24, said he has been working as a temporary nurse at Khon Kaen’s Chum Phae hospital for more than four years since graduating from college, but there is no sign of him getting a civil-servant status.
“I want job security and medical benefits for my entire family. If the Public Health Ministry does not give me civil-servant status, I will seek employment at a private hospital,” he said after signing a resignation form, which he expects to hand to the ministry by December.
According to the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council, the demand for nursing staff from private hospitals had doubled to 2,000 a year over the past five years and some private hospitals pay as much as Bt40,000 a month for nurses who have more than four years experience.
Sittipong said he had decided to work in Chum Phae so he could look after his parents, adding that he was willing to work in rural areas for the rest of his life if the government decided to employ him as a civil servant.
Jaruwan Seadkuntod, 32, said she was thinking of quitting her job at Dankhuntod Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province because she had been working as a temporary nurse for 10 years now.
“I have to take care of at least 10 to 15 patients a day. Isn’t that tough enough already?” she asked, adding that she would quit and find work at a university hospital in order to get better medical benefits for her family.
In comparison, Wassana Pakpoom, 26, said she would continue working at Kanchanaburi’s Bo Ploi hospital even though she has been a temporary nurse for four years now.
“Who will take care of patients if we quit state hospitals and go work at private institutions?” she asked.
However, she said, she still wanted the government to extend medical benefits so her entire family can be covered and employ her as a civil servant.
“We have been making sacrifices to save other people’s lives, so do we not deserve to get security for our lives?” she asked.