Sept. 01--AMMAN -- The Ministry of Health is currently studying a proposed payroll system to improve the financial situation of ministry doctors, a top government official said on Tuesday.
Minister of Health Nayef Fayez said the ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Sector Development, is reviewing a payroll system proposed by the Jordan Medical Association (JMA) that is expected to cost the country an additional JD10 million annually if approved.
In a press conference at Prince Hamzah Hospital yesterday, Fayez stressed that the ministry will consider any measure to improve the financial situation of doctors in order to encourage them to stay in the Kingdom.
"We are sending doctors as part of delegations to work in Saudi Arabia, with each delegate staying for two months," Fayez said, adding that 51 doctors have benefited from the initiative so far. Doctors who take part in the delegations receive JD6,000 to JD7,000 per month, he stressed.
The procedures were adopted following a rise in the number of Jordanian doctors resigning from their posts and moving abroad for better pay.
According to JMA figures, over 200 doctors have resigned from their jobs at ministry hospitals and immigrated abroad since the beginning of the year.
JMA President Ahmad Armouti said "the situation is out of control", adding that the proposed payroll system is the best solution to prevent "brain-drain".
Currently, a general practitioner is appointed at the ministry with a JD350 to JD400 monthly salary, according to the JMA president.
Under the new system, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times, salaries will be raised to JD500 per month in addition to benefits that boost the total monthly salary to JD700.
"This is nothing compared to what doctors are paid in other countries, but we want to avoid the crisis that is expected to happen if the situation doesn't receive attention from authorities," Armouti told The Jordan Times in a recent phone interview.
The majority of those who migrated abroad are doctors experienced in rare specialisations, Armouti said, adding that 60 specialists have left for better opportunities abroad in the last three months alone.
As an example, he pointed out that Princess Basma Hospital in Irbid was recently left with two ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists when their colleagues resigned and went to work in Gulf countries.
"This is the only public hospital in Irbid and serves a governorate with a population exceeding one million. How could they only have two ENT specialists?" Armouti remarked.
In a previous statement, JMA spokesperson Basem Kiswani pointed out that the association's proposal calls for introducing a wage and incentive system for 3,800 public sector doctors similar to systems applied in the private sector.
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