Rural doctors are rioting against performance pay
The rural doctors are rioting against the Ministry of Health's plan to halve their inconvenience allowance and replace it with a performance-based payment.
They are going to hold a rally in front of Government House every week until the plan is off the table and Health Minister Pradit Sintawanarong has resigned. Today, 160 representatives of doctors and dentists are meeting to find out what their next step will be.
De hardship allowances is based on the field in which a doctor works. The amounts vary from 10.000 to 70.000 baht. The minister wants to halve these amounts and replace them with remuneration based on performance. Only the extreme south is spared; there the allowance will be maintained because of the risks.
According to Narong Sahamethapat, permanent secretary of the ministry, the new remuneration system is an incentive for doctors to work harder. The new system would also end unfair income disparities, as some parts of the country are no longer considered isolated areas.
But President Kriangsak Watcharanukulkiat of the Rural Doctors Society says the new system undermines public health. 'Various studies abroad have shown that performance-based payment of doctors harms the public health system. Doctors then focus on treatments that can increase their score.'
In addition, he says, doctors will move to private hospitals because they can earn more there. 'The existing hardship allowance is the best incentive to encourage doctors to work in rural areas.'
The article does not provide information on how the ministry intends to measure the performance of doctors.
(Source: Bangkok Post, March 20, 2013)