Competency-based Remuneration at Public Healthcare Institutions

19 Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health (a) whether all the public healthcare institutions have adopted skills, experience and competency-based remuneration rather than one based primarily on academic qualification; and (b) whether there is a willingness by these institutions to have a timeline to break away from the existing glass ceiling, with human resource policies driven by skills recognition, especially for new recruits, instead of academic qualifications alone.

The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for Health): Public healthcare institutions are progressively moving beyond academic qualifications to skills and competencies in the recruitment, remuneration and promotion of staff. Academic qualifications are commonly used as a reference for new recruits who usually have little or no work experience. For mid-career recruits, their relevant experience is taken into account when determining their salaries. Beyond the entry grade, salary and career progression are now mostly performance- and competency-based. For example, nurses' remuneration and promotion depend primarily on their job performance and acquisition of specialised skills, rather than their previous academic attainment or grades.

To further strengthen the competency-based human resource system, the Ministry of Health is partnering SkillsFuture Singapore to develop the Skills Frameworks for Healthcare for the healthcare workforce, including nurses, allied health professionals, pharmacy technicians and support care staff. The Skills Framework will articulate the roles, skills, competencies and training required for each job role. We also hope to work with the unions to implement the Skills Framework when it is ready by the end of this year.