Health workers have not been paid approximately $1.7 million as overtime from January to March this year due to insufficient budget and this is expected to increase.
This has been confirmed by Minister for Health Dr. Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu in his response to a written question by Opposition MP Premila Kumar on what is the total unpaid overtime owed to health workers, and how long has this liability been accumulating to date.
Dr Lalabalavu says the Ministry has decentralised budget allocations to its 14 Cost Centres, which are controlled by Heads of Cost Centers such as Medical Superintendents and Divisional Medical Officers.
He says this means that Heads of Cost Centres are responsible for managing their budgets through payment of salaries, wages, overtime, and related allowances for their staff.
The Minister explains that when Heads of Cost Centres exhaust their overtime budget allocation, they are advised to implement Time Off-In Lieu.
He says at this stage, a total of 8 out of 14 Cost Centres have exhausted their overtime budget.
Dr Lalabalavu says CWM and Labasa Hospitals, both specialised hospitals of Saint Giles and Tamavua Twomey Hospital, and the four divisions of Central, Eastern, Western, and Northern Health Services have exhausted their overtime budget.
He says the Ministry was allocated a total overtime budget of $7.5 million for both established staff and Government Wage Earners and the current expenditure until the last pay is approximately $9.9 million, overspent by $2.4 million or 131.6 percent.
Dr Lalabalavu confirms all overtime for both established staff and Government Wage Earners has been fully paid up to December 2025, while approved overtime on Time Off-In Lieu has been accumulating from January 2026 to date.
He says the unpaid overtime cost is for officers entitled to overtime on Band E and below, plus Registered Nurses, Medical Imaging Technologists (MITs), and Senior Pharmacy Technicians (SPT) on Band F who have worked overtime but could not be paid due to insufficient overtime budget.
While responding to a question by Kumar on how many emergency patients were referred to private facilities since 2023, and the total cost, Dr Lalabalavu says the Ministry does not refer patients to private facilities and in fact, it is the other way around.
