‘We cannot recruit our way out of a retention problem’: Healthcare workers write open letter to ST

SINGAPORE: Local healthcare workers posted an open letter about a report from The Straits Times that focused on more physiotherapists choosing to work in private, instead of public, healthcare.

An ST article published on July 6 noted that in the last five years, the number of physiotherapists in Singapore went up by more than 30%. However, it added that more physiotherapists, or one in three, are choosing to work in the private sector. This has caused concerns that it could later impact subsidised physiotherapy services.

The report said that the Ministry of Health is planning to increase the number of physiotherapy students. ST quoted MOH as saying that it is working to “put in place measures to attract, develop and retain a fair share of physiotherapists.”

In its open letter to ST published on its Instagram account on July 14, @thehonesthealthcareworker noted the article’s main point of more physiotherapists choosing to work in the private sector, but took exception to the fact that it did not look into the underlying issue of why many experienced Allied Health professionals are leaving public healthcare.

The open letter reads: “It mistakes a retention challenge for a recruitment solution. We have become preoccupied with replacing clinicians instead of understanding why we keep losing them. 

The real question is not who will replace an experienced clinician, but why someone who once believed in and chose public healthcare decided that they could no longer remain.” 

According to the letter writer, unsustainable workloads, excessive administrative demands, burnout, feeling undervalued, and a workplace culture where staff concerns go unheard are the main reasons why public healthcare has seen an exodus.

Moreover, simply replacing seasoned clinicians with new graduates will mean losing their valuable experience and mentorship, which are vital to providing patients with quality care.

“This is why we cannot recruit our way out of a retention problem. Because healthcare is one of the few professions where experience is not merely valuable, it is part of the care patients receive,” the letter added.

And while younger clinicians are no less talented, as their seniors leave, they are forced to bear heavier responsibilities without the guidance they need, which then creates more burnout and resignations, all of which affect patients in the long run.

Until the culture shifts from replacement to prioritising retention, experienced clinicians will continue to leave, the healthcare workers added, warning that allied health may be approaching a tipping point where experience is being lost faster than it can be rebuilt. 

They urged the Ministry of Health to focus on improving the culture and retaining experienced staff rather than relying primarily on recruitment, so Singapore’s public healthcare system can preserve the expertise, mentorship, and excellence that patients depend on. /TISG

Read also: ‘How do healthcare workers manage to be the bigger person?’: Man wonders after student nurse friend faces verbal abuse from cancer patient