UAE healthcare pay scales to be drawn up

PAY SCALES: The Ministry of Health will set out new minimum and maximum salaries for health workers in the UAE. (Getty Images)

Pay scales setting out minimum and maximum salaries for every group of healthcare worker are to be drawn up by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

The UAE’s MoH is currently evaluating its pay scales that will result in the setting out of criteria for each role, in a bid to make pay fairer.

Pay bands would be established on the basis of experience and qualificaitons, said Dr Salim Al Darmaki, CEO of institutional services at the MoH.

The plans coincide with findings from a Medical Times salary survey that show pay scales across the Middle East vary widely within professional groups. Wages were more closely linked to nationality than experience and qualifications, responders said.

A total of 177 healthcare staff working in all areas, and sectors, of healthcare delivery took part in the survey, of which 73 percent thought their pay was too low.

Overall 100 percent who said their pay was 5,000 dirhams ($1,362) per month, or below, were from Asia, Africa, or poorer countries in the Middle East.

However, just 45 percent of those being paid 35,000 dirhams ($9,530) or above were from the same countries. The 55 percent majority were from Europe and the US.

Results show 70 percent of respondents, answering the question, were planning to resign, with many citing Canada and Australia as their dream destinations for better pay and working conditions.

An Egyptian hospital director working in the private sector on up to 10,000 dirhams per month, wrote: “I’m planning to go to Australia because there is no career progression and no equal pay for equal jobs in the Gulf area.”

A Filipino staff nurse working in private paediatric care, revealed she was earning just 5,000 dirhams a month, despite having 16 years worth of experience.

“We are not compensated for our workloads. They are not paying on your performance, but on your colour or nationality,” she added.

However, Dr Darmaki denied that current pay levels were dependent on a person’s country of origin. “I do not think that is the case between nationalities. It varies according to the level of the qualification and the experience, and the institution,” he said.

The MoH was committed to making pay fairer for all healthcare staff, but could not force healthcare providers to adopt its new pay scales, he added.

“There should be minimum and maximum pay for health workers, regardless of their profession; nurse, technician or doctor and so on. The MoH is going to develop a system that will regulate that pay,” Dr Darmaki confirmed.

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