The Samoa Medical Association (S.M.A.) has urged the Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) to put the new remuneration packages for doctors working in public hospitals in writing.

The S.M.A. says this will ensure that the offer from the P.S.C. is "believable and acceptable" and is officially confirming their employment by the government.

Speaking in a meeting with the press on Friday, the S.M.A. President, Taule'ale'ausumai Dr. Titi Lamese said one of the challenges doctors faced in previous years was that the offer from the Government wasn't "exactly what they received". 

He said this is the reason why they are asking the commission to put the new remuneration packages offered to the doctors on paper. 

Taule'ale'ausumai then further clarified that one of the main concerns they have with the new offer is the introduction of a "responsibility allowance" for contracted doctors within the service.  

P.S.C. in a statement issued over a week ago asserted that no doctor under contract will experience a pay cut, and should expect to be paid an additional 50-60 per cent of their base salary as a “Responsibility Allowance” in lieu of overtime.

“Contract employees are not entitled to overtime. Instead, the commission considered a Responsibility Allowance for Contract Officers within the Health Services at the range of 30 per cent to 60 per cent of basic salaries,” states the P.S.C. release. “The Responsibility Allowance comprises of all other allowances received under the LERA 2013, on-call allowances, call back allowance, emergency allowance and health and safety allowance."

A senior doctor within the service, Dr. Folototo Leavai expressed their appreciation to the P.S.C. for accepting their request to increase the percentage or the rate of allowances for doctors in the service. However, she said their concern is that there are different departments within the hospitals that require different specialists. 

For example, Dr. Folototo said with the shortage of medical specialists working for the Ministry, there are doctors who are required to attend to other areas, aside from his or her specialist area. Therefore, they are asking the P.S.C. to factor in all those issues when considering the allowances that they deserve to be paid for all the work that they do. 

She further explained that most of the senior doctors in the service always offer to help their fellow colleagues from time to time because of the shortage of doctors, especially when performing operations after hours.

Brushing off comments from the Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele and the Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa claiming that there is no unity within the Ministry, Dr. Folototo said doctors and nurses collaborate and attend to their patients day and night. 

Taule'ale'ausumai, who currently runs his own private practice while being the S.M.A. President, said the S.M.A. had to intervene to protect and stand up for their brothers and sisters in the service who would be affected by the changes. 

"The majority of our doctors are happy with the changes," he said. "As you must know, we have doctors in the service getting the same salary they were offered six or 10 years ago. 

"This is after they had undertaken further studies and training so some of them are very happy with the changes from P.S.C. But there are some areas they need to consider and we would love for them to try and understand what we are fighting for and to keep their doors open for us."

Taule'ale'ausumai also said the association had to set the record straight following accusations that the doctors are "only working for money". 

"The truth is, we don't have enough doctors and specialties," he said. "So if when we don't have enough doctors, the doctors we now have are sacrificing everything to ensure that they cater to the needs of our patients. 

"But if there's a shortage of doctors and do not have the manpower? Who do we blame? The Government should find more doctors and employ more people in the service then we will be happy to accept the changes and give some of our doctors a break. 

"We have also been accused of asking for more money yet providing poor services. The Government has also said that more and more people are getting sick and more and more people are being transferred overseas for medical treatment insinuating that we are not doing our jobs. 

"However, the numbers are an indication that doctors' work has improved in terms of keeping records of the different types of diseases, identifying the types of diseases, and how many people in the country are diagnosed with the different diseases. 

"It's not entirely our fault. But if they think that the Government is spending a lot of money on doctors, drop the overtime in its entirety. We are doing this in good faith because we honour our oath and our calling. But we are humbly asking P.S.C. to consider our plea and conversate with us to clear all the issues before they implement the changes."