HOW TO ARREST

ANEW approach has to be considered to retain medical specialists in government hospitals due to an alarming number of them leaving the service.

It is unavoidable that the specialists would opt for the private sector due to higher salaries and better working conditions.

To overcome this, the 2018 Budget could give specialists in government service a lower personal income tax rate or they could be exempted from paying tax to ensure that there is not much difference between the salaries in the public and private sectors.

The government cannot afford to pay high salaries as it has to take into account the last salary scale before retirement and the pension scheme.

A variable tax system can be used to offset unfair advantages in a free market economy.

Another approach is to increase the number of specialists in all medical fields by providing more specialist training centres and twinning programmes with specialist training universities.

More capable and willing doctors need to be recruited for specialist courses, possibly a few hundred annually, to reduce the specialist shortage. It can be a surplus from shortage within less than 10 years.

Those specialists who have been funded by the government through scholarships, sponsorships or other means need to sign a bond with the government to stay in government service for 10 years after graduating.

This formula will ensure that with a few hundred specialists