The Ministry of Health in Singapore will invest an additional SGD 24 million as about 9,000 additional workers will be needed in the health sector in the coming three years, announced Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor in Parliament.
He said, “Among the 9,000 additional staff needed, about half are Professional, Manager, Executive and Technician (PMET) level roles such as nurses, therapists, administrative executives and operations managers.”
The Minister observed, “The positive news is that growth in the healthcare sector will bring many good jobs, clinical and non-clinical and at different levels, for Singaporeans..”
To attract mid-career Singaporeans, an initiative has been taken for increased funding for the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Nursing scheme so that employers co-fund only 10 per cent of the training cost, a reduction from the current 20 to 50 per cent.
Training support will also be given to the employers for hiring nurses. Employers that hire enrolled nurses and registered nurses who graduate from the PCP, will receive new on-the-job training support of SGD 12,000 and SGD 16,000 respectively.
Registered nurses handle more medical duties, while enrolled nurses support registered nurses in providing essential nursing duties such as conducting active patient and caregiver education.
Dr. Khor further said, “The funding will encourage employers to admit more PCP-trained nurses and enable them to better support these nurses in their transition to a new career. We will also tap on Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) new Attach and Train scheme to enable more mid-career Singaporeans to take up PCP nursing training."
Non-clinical roles, such as administrative and executive positions in the areas of human resource and hospital operations, will also be made available for PMETs.