Private healthcare providers brace for higher costs amid global shortage of nurses

OPERATING expenditures for private healthcare players in Singapore are expected to rise as they reassess their compensation for nurses, although the costs to retain staff could still be lower than training new nurses from scratch, say analysts.

The potential increase in wage costs comes as a knock-on effect of the upcoming retention scheme by the government to offer monetary payouts to nurses in the public healthcare sector.

About 29,000 nurses are set to receive up to S$100,000 in payouts over the next 20 years from September, under the Award for Nurses’ Grace, Excellence and Loyalty (Angel) scheme.