The Bhutanese Leading the way.
During the fourth sitting of the first parliament session, the Shompangkha constituency MP, Dr. Tek Bhadur Rai, expressed significant concerns regarding the increasing number of health workers retiring and others taking Extraordinary Leave (EOL). He emphasized that these are impacting the quality of healthcare services.
“There is a plan to hire doctors from Bangladesh and nurses from India. However, this requires a substantial budget. Regarding this matter, there is going to be a huge disparity between the salaries received by our Bhutanese health workers and the foreign health workers,” said the MP.
Moreover, the MP’s concern extends to how Bhutanese health workers, after comparing their salaries with foreign workers, might feel demotivated, potentially leading to an increase in nurse and doctor attrition.
In response to these concerns, Health Minister Tandin Wangchuk stated that the country is facing a shortage of 172 doctors in total and 824 nurses (which includes those on EOL).
“The concern shared by the MP about the disparity in salary between the foreign and our Bhutanese health workers is valid. However, the foreign workers are intended to serve temporarily, whereas our Bhutanese nurses and doctors are permanent members of our healthcare system. The health workers from Bangladesh and India will be repatriated once we have an adequate number of nurses and doctors,” said the Health Minister.
According to research conducted by MoH, one of the reasons doctors and nurses are leaving their jobs in Bhutan is the salary disparity between Bhutan and other foreign countries.
According to research Bhutanese nurses at the P4 level receive 55,007 Ngultrums, while in Australia, nurses are paid 355,004. ES1 level nurses in Bhutan earn 148,000 ngultrums compared to 555,000 earned by nurses in foreign countries.
In terms of doctors, specialists at the P3 level in Bhutan receive 73,000 ngultrums per month, whereas in foreign countries, they earn between $150,000 and $160,000 annually.
Lyonpo said, “While hiring from abroad, we do have to pay them a bit higher than what our current health workers receive.”
In the report shared by Lyonpo, he mentioned that expert foreign doctors who have been in service for 5 years will be paid USD 4000 per month, those with more than 5 years of experience will receive USD 4500 per month, and subspecialists will be paid USD 5000 per month.
To fill the gap caused by the shortage of 824 nurses, Lyonpo said, “We expect nurses from our country and 145 foreign nurses who will be paid USD 800-1000 based on their experience and qualifications. There is not much difference; they will be sent back once the country has enough nurses. We are short of nurses, and since our country does not have enough nurses, we do not have any other option than to hire from foreign countries.”
Lyonpo also mentioned that the MoH is planning to fill the gap caused by about 30% nurse attrition by allowing current nurses to serve extended hours (6 extra hours) and compensating them with Nu. 1000-1500 based on their qualifications.
MoH has also increased the number of medical students studying in foreign countries by 25%. Bangladesh has increased the number of MBBS students from 21 to 30 and MoH expects 55 students from Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences (KGUMS) in the year 2027.
Lyonpo also shared plans for future health workers, stating that MoH aims to recruit 623 health workers from Apollo Bhutan in 2027, 194 from KGUMS, 255 from Royal Thimphu College, 455 from Aurora Academy, in addition to students sponsored by the government for education abroad.
Through these initiatives, the Health Minister says this could help reduce the doctor and nurse attrition rate in Bhutan.
