Update on Review into ANGEL Scheme to Retain Nurses

47 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health whether the Ministry can provide an update on the review into extending the Award for Nurses' Grace, Excellence and Loyalty (ANGEL) scheme, which is a retention scheme to attract and encourage nurses to build a lifelong career in the public healthcare system, to the administrative and support healthcare workers who work alongside the nurses.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: There are currently no plans to extend the Award for Nurses' Grace, Excellence and Loyalty (ANGEL) scheme beyond nurses. The ANGEL scheme is designed to encourage nurses to stay and build their careers in the publicly-funded healthcare sector.

The considerations for each healthcare profession are unique, including factors like the strength of the recruitment pipeline and global competition, the nature of the job and career structure. Nurses make up a large proportion of the workforce in public healthcare, which makes retaining them through a scheme like ANGEL necessary.

The Ministry of Health regularly reviews the salaries of all our public healthcare workforce and ensures that their total remuneration is fair and competitive. We will continue to look into other attraction and retention measures to ensure that we are future-ready, such as by supporting mid-career entrants to the sector, providing opportunities for job redesign and career development, and ensuring a conducive and safe work environment in our public healthcare institutions.