Bauchi Govt Approves New Salary Structure For Doctors, Health Personnel

From Paul Orude Bauchi

Bauchi state government has approved a new salary structure and welfare package for medical doctors and other health personnel to address shortage of manpower in the state.

This was disclosed by the Head of Service, Barrister Mohammed Sani Umar, while briefing journalists at the end of the State Executive Council Meeting, on Friday.

Umar said the approval was given by council for a comprehensive remuneration and welfare package to attract and retain doctors and other health workers in the state.

The state experiences shortage of doctors, with report suggesting 200 for a population of over seven million.

The Head of service explained that Governor Bala Mohammed was deeply concerned with the rate at which the doctors and frontline workers such as midwives, abandon the state leading to significant shortage of manpower.

He explained further that a committee was constituted by the state government to investigate the trend found that medical doctors were leaving the state because of the issue of welfare package.

“Hence council has approved for the implementation of a comprehensive salary structure in the state, including Consolidated Medical Salary Structure CONMESS and COHESS for health workers,” he said.

“Council also ratified and approved that welfare package will include housing , car loans, allowances that have to do with rural posting, security around health institutions, improvement about what has already been done about working equipment, perimeter fence in our health institutions, including welfare and salary package for youth corps members, that are working in facility .

“The aim is to attract and retain health workers in the state.

“Others are lingering issues that have to do with promotion and advancement of medical officers and other personnel, including pre-service training”

The HOS disclosed that a committee would be set to facilitate implementation of all the agreed salary package for doctors and other health workers in the state.

Speaking further on the development, commissioner for Health, Sani Mohammed Dambam appreciated the governor for the gesture, saying the health sector has been receiving top most priority since inception of the Governor Bala Mohammed led administration.

“The governor declared a state of emergency and all the bureaucratic bottlenecks have been removed to achieve the desired goal in the health sector.

“He converged the first health summit in the north which brought out a blueprint for development of the state under My Bauchi project plan.

“The governor has been consistent in providing 15 percent budgetary allocation to the health sector.

“The governor has been consistent and he has also renovated the health facilities in the state and lifted the embargo the recruitment of domiciliary workers and recommended the pre-service scheme that was suspended by previous administrations.

“He has now capped it up with this comprehensive package for doctors and health workers which will now make us to be at par with our counterparts in the federal service.

“We are optimistic that there will be significant improvement in the health sector as human resource is

Having the right manpower and the required number will improve the sector “