About three months ago a form for applying the on-call allowances were released by the Finance department at the Ministry of Health via our CEO's office. It was claims for the month of March, April and May. The forms was filled and handed in.... 3 months later we're left wondering what happened to our claims...
March On-Call Allowance form
Doctors Mess approach a senior officer at the Ministry to ask some questions and Here's our answer my dear doctor friends....
Apparently NO on-call allowances will be given yet, because there are no allocated budget for it .... as yet. Yes the oncall allowances have been approved by the highest authority, and permission has been granted through JPA for the ministry to proceed with the on-call allowances... however the Finance department is still figuring how to 'correctly' award the on-call allowances to the doctors.
So what about the forms that were filled in 3 months ago for the month of March, April and May? Well it turns out it was only a "PILOT" study to gauge how much the ministry will be spending on On-Call claims. So who's idea was this pilot study... BDMC found out it was the Finance Department..
Before I elaborate on some of the querries brought forward from the "Pilot" study that was done where None of us were told about, let me just elaborate on the different type of On call allowances that you are entitled to claim.
There are 3 types of on-call allowances, Resident On-Call, Non-Resident On-Call and Consultant On-Call.
1) Resident On-Call are given to those who stay in-hospital during the 24hr On-call period, mainly Medics, Surgeons, Orthopods, Anaesthetist, Gynae, Paeds & ICU. The rate depends on their grade whether it's Medical officer or Senior Medical Officer.
M.O. - $11/hr
SMO - $14/hr
2) Non-resident On-call are given to those who are on-call from home. e.g. OMFs, ENTs, Opthalmology, Neurosurgeons. These doctors will have to claim the hours they come to hospital only and attend patients. Calls taken from home are not counted apparently. The rates are similar to the above.
3) Consultants/Specialists Oncall are given only to specialist. Its fixed amount of $1,250/mth. However If you are Acting Specialist, you will only be entitled SMO rate and you get paid only when you come to hospital.
We overheard Several querries were brought forth, I thought we'd share with you some of them:
1. Some doctors were claiming to be on-site when they are not.
2. How do we know if the doctor claiming for 3 hours duty, actually came for 3 hours?
3. Some specialists were claiming on-site oncall allowances, although their on-calls are fixed.
Well, firstly we think the Pilot study was a bit on the unfair side. It's fine to do a pilot, but at least let us know so that everyone understands there will be a long delay.
Secondly, the doctors claiming wrongly, would probably have been avoided if there was a proper briefing held by the Finance department on How to Fill in these forms.. If you have a look at those forms, there is no way to differentiate between who is on-site and who is not. How do you expect the doctors to fill in the forms correctly.... if no body actually tell them how to? It is not surprising that some of the doctors would have filled them incorrectly..
Thirdly, the claiming of correct hours can be overcome by using 'thumb finger-print' recognition technology. You just 'thumb in' and 'thumb out' when your done. I'm sure the money used to acquire this technology is much less than the money some of the doctors would try to claim wrongly... right?
Or have somebody in each ward and department to log in the doctors that were on-call everytime they see a patient... including at 3 am when a Neurosugeon gets called in for a Road Traffic Accident.
Or alternatively, trust the doctors who really should be professional, honest and trustworthy. I prefer the later. I think $14/hr versus a sleepless night when you have to wake up at 2am to put a Cardiac Pacemaker or help your junior put a central line in is well justified.. Plus on top of this they are yet expected to work the next day from 7.30am till 4.30pm. You do the maths...
So what now... BDMC heard that we'd have to wait for an official letter from DGMS to officially allow us to claim... then there will be another form - 'The Official one' where we can start claiming.
There is going to be some delay as well, because the current on-call allowance does not include those who are 'daily-paid'. This include our newly appointed Pre-registration House Officers and some of the new Medical Officers. Fortunately our DGMS are already looking into this matter and is in the process of getting this approved by JPA.
Finally on behalf of all the doctors, we'd like to say thank you to all those who have continuously given support to improving the medical profession in Brunei. We hope this profession will continue to strive, and continuously contribute to the society, religion and country. May Allah bless you.
There is going to be some delay as well, because the current on-call allowance does not include those who are 'daily-paid'. This include our newly appointed Pre-registration House Officers and some of the new Medical Officers. Fortunately our DGMS are already looking into this matter and is in the process of getting this approved by JPA.
Finally on behalf of all the doctors, we'd like to say thank you to all those who have continuously given support to improving the medical profession in Brunei. We hope this profession will continue to strive, and continuously contribute to the society, religion and country. May Allah bless you.
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