11,000 nurses to get civil servant status

11,000 nurses to get civil servant status

Govt caves in amid resignation threat

After a series of twists and turns the government said yesterday it will meet nurses' demands by granting 11,000 who are now working under temporary contracts permanent civil servant status within three years, entitling them to more welfare and benefits.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting at Government House, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the first batch will be hired this year to fill 2,200 civil servant positions that are currently vacant under the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH).

A further 8,800 permanent civil servant positions will be granted over the next three years, or about 2,900 per year, Gen Prayut said in a move seen as pre-empting a rash of resignations by nurses this summer.

These figures include all the vacancies that will arise when nurses who already enjoy status as permanent civil servants retire, government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

The recruitment scheme was proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam and MOPH Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn during the meeting.

It has been agreed by the cabinet but not yet officially approved.

Gen Prayut said he has assigned Mr Wissanu to work on the plan.

The premier's decision comes after more than 10,000 nurses working for public hospitals and state health units nationwide threatened to leave their posts if they are not granted permanent civil servant status.

The nurses said they would stop working at the end of September, when the 2017 fiscal year is over, in protest against the cabinet decision on May 9 which disapproved the listing of 10,992 contract nurses as civil servants over a three-year period.

Contract nurses are hired by state hospitals. They are not entitled to the benefits and welfare that civil servants receive.

Gen Prayut said the government had to consider all state agencies whose staff are comprised of permanent civil servants, government employees as well as contract and permanent employees to ensure the situation is dealt with fairly and equitably.

But he admitted the state lacked skilled nurses as many resign to work for private hospitals with higher salaries and better welfare.

During the cabinet meeting, the prime minister also instructed state agencies to consider whether their organisational structures needed to be rejigged.

These included the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission and the Office of the Civil Servant Commission, which oversee the recruitment of state human resources.

Ministries must also find a way to hire new civil servants or employees at a reasonable cost, Gen Prayut said.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen Sansern said the MOPH proposed at the cabinet meeting that it establish a panel to supervise the ministry's policies on human resources so as to find a long-term solution in response to the prime minister's order.

The issue will be tabled at the next cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Lt Gen Sansern said this was not prompted by the nurses' threat to resign.

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