The Ministry of Health is seeing a downward trend in the exodus of health workers largely attributed to raising the retirement age from 55 years to 60 years of age, the wage increase for civil servants, and specific measures for new retention allowances and salary increments for nursing staff.
This has been confirmed by Minister for Health Doctor Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu while responding to the President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu’s opening speech in Parliament.
Dr Lalabalavu says the exodus of well trained and competent health care workers from the Ministry continue to pose many challenges in their effort to deliver quality health services for the people.
He confirms in the fiscal year 2022-2023, the Ministry recorded an alarming and unusual number of resignations, with 221 doctors and 982 nurses leaving their ranks.
The Minister says however since 2023, the Ministry has witnessed a promising trend of decline in these figures where in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the number of resigning doctors decreased to 48, while the number of nurses also fell to 241 and as of the current fiscal year 2024-2025 to date, they have seen further reductions to 39 doctors and 65 nurses resigning thus far.
Dr Lalabalavu says they have seen a noteworthy increase in healthcare workers, particularly nurses, who are re-joining the Ministry, and hopefully signalling a reversal in workforce mobility trends.
He further says newly qualified pharmacists often find better financial incentives in the retail sector but to counter this, the Ministry has offered a more competitive salary package, elevating the pay for pharmacists to Step 4 of Band G, amounting to $40,429.04 per annum, as opposed to the previous Step 1 rate.
He says similarly, they are implementing a comparable approach by offering recruitment of medical imaging technologists at Step 4 of Band F, with a salary of $30,615.95 per annum once they enter into employment at the Ministry.
The Minister says in addition, they have progressed with establishing the Ministry’s Strategic Workforce Plan for 2025-2034.
He says consultations with stakeholders such as the Ministry of Civil Service, Fiji National University, University of Fiji, the Tertiary Loans and Scholarship Board, the private health sector, DFAT, World Health Organisation, the Fiji Medical and Dental Council, the Fiji Nursing Council, and departmental heads within the Ministry have been undertaken, and the plan is expected to be ready by the end of the current fiscal year.
He adds the Ministry values its workforce highly and continues to make positive headway in addressing its workforce need.
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