Shortage of healthcare workers in UAE leads to poaching among rival hospitals DUBAI- A huge surge in demand for healthcare workers is giving expatriate Filipinos new hope as the industry opens greater employment opportunities in the UAE. This is according to last month’s Abu Dhabi Medical Congress and the recently concluded Healthcare Investment Conference in Dubai. According to the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi needs an additional 3,100 doctors by 2020, or about 500 doctors every year. According to a report published in The National newspaper which quoted experts speaking at the recent Dubai conference, the average salary of a specialist doctor in the UAE is Dh75,000 to Dh80,000 a month, and for general physicians it can be around Dh40,000 a month. The salaries of doctors in the UAE have risen by 5 to 10 per cent, and that of nurses by 3 to 5 per cent over the past couple of years, they said. In an otherwise stagnant job market of the previous years, this is a reflection of the shortage in healthcare workers in the country. If this continues, expect salaries to surge, as well as an increase in the current trend of poaching staff among rival hospitals, say experts. The available jobs in the medical industry vary as demand for primary care shifts to ambulatory care (e.g. home care) as a result of the emirate’s ageing population. Healthcare workers such as nurses, pharmacists and mid-wives are said to play a vital role as demand surges, said a primary care expert. A report published in the Khaleej Times quoted Professor Nabil Sulaiman, head of Family and Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, saying: “It is estimated that within the next 20 years, around 70 per cent of the ageing population will be residing in developing countries, and this [scenario] will create a lot of problems for the whole health system – primary care, secondary care, and social services. We should plan very well for it.” To prepare for the inadequate supply of healthcare workers in the country, NMC Healthcare, one of the largest private healthcare providers in the UAE, is positive on recruiting hundreds of Filipino nurses in the last quarter of the year. NMC Healthcare plans to increase its workforce over the next few years as it plans to open more facilities including a 100-bed Brightpoint Maternity Hospital in Abu Dhabi, a 60-bed general hospital in Dubai Investments Park and a medical centre in Al Ain all set by the end of 2014. This will soon be followed by a 250-bed Khalifa City Hospital in the first half of 2015.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 07:19:30 +0000
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