Nurses Call For Change In Pay Conditions

The Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff has urged the authorities to improve pay conditions to retain people and attract more talent into the profession.

The nurses' representatives met the head of the Hospital Authority, Leung Pak-yin on Thursday, and asked for a streamlining of the pay structure to enable nurses to move up the grades quicker.

They also urged the authorities to bring back a 16.5 percent allowance which was replaced by a fixed amount payment during a downsizing undertaken in 2000.

The association's chairman and lawmaker Joseph Lee said nurses should be able to earn pay increases quickly if the government wants to tackle the current nursing shortage.

But Lee said while providing enough promotion opportunities, the authority should also hire enough numbers to retain the required manpower at all levels.

The authority has promised to review the pay structure, he said.