Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health, on Saturday, explained the salient features of the Cabinet decision on the standardized pay scales for Saudi doctors and other health workers. The Cabinet, Dr. Rabeah said, unified the pay scales of health workers employed in public hospitals and defined the allowances and incentives for specialists and with those with rare specialization. Special arrangements have also been approved for Saudi health practitioners who are working according to the operational program. These arrangements, Dr. Rabeah said, are aimed at retaining them in their posts. The changes in the categories already endorsed by the previous regulations are pharmacists and specialists, he said. The first mentioned category will be expanded to include three groups – pharmacist, senior pharmacist and consultant pharmacist. The inclusion of the last two categories in the new regulation would enable those with higher qualification to have a chance to get superior postings and proper occupational classification with an increase in their salaries. Pharmacists and specialists, the minister said, did not have proper classification in the previous regulations. Now workers in these categories have won a guarantee of a proper postings and financial benefits, he added. The two categories of health assistants have been unified and merged into one single post. This regulation, the minister said, also guarantees postings and increments commensurate with their qualification. Supervision allowance of SR3,000 will be given to directors and heads of medical departments in public hospitals and central laboratories, the minister said. Supervision allowance of SR5,000 will be given to directors and heads of medical departments in specialist and referral hospitals, Dr. Rabeah added. All health practitioners are entitled to get overtime if the nature of their work requires them to stay in hospitals beyond their duty timings.
