The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Health Minister Tandin Wangchuk in a recent appearance on the national broadcaster said the ministry plans to retain the health workers by carefully examining their challenges and issues.
The approach is also to provide the future doctors at Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB) pursuing MBBS with better opportunities.
Lyonpo said the reason why Bhutanese health workers are leaving their jobs is because of the difference in the benefits given to the health workers outside Bhutan and other developed countries.
He said, “Due to the pandemic, many health workers in developed countries got an increase in their salaries, also individuals get to save enough for their children’s future. Compared to these countries, our country’s working area is not as advanced as theirs, and the health workers believe that they are not paid according to their effort. Another is, how family and friends influence about better opportunities outside Bhutan.”
The services that could be delivered by one person has to be done by two, and Lyonpo suggests that the health workers should be given the right to work in comfortable work area. Additionally, he believes that health workers should be given opportunities for higher education with an increase in salary even though they are not paid as much as the health workers outside Bhutan.
According to Lyonpo, they are discussing this matter with RCSC and giving opportunities to the resigned health workers outside Bhutan, who wishes to come back is to be discussed soon.
However, if these strategies do not work, He said that the country will look for health workers from outside country, just like 30 years ago.
Lyonpo said According to Lyonpo, just from JDWNRH 184 health workers have resigned last year, moreover, almost 61 health workers have given a notice period before 6 months to resign. This keeping in mind that it is the sole national referral hospital.
Services could not be delivered to the people in a timely manner, and the Prime Minister visited JDWNRH five times and ordered MoH to solve the issue.
Lyonpo added that in JDWNRH there are a greater number of patients with very less rooms.
Moreover, he also says that the machines such as MRI and CT scan have to be repaired time and again, which is very costly and also requires technicians from Singapore to fix them.
