public servants’ salary hike, productivity improvement and lessons from dompe ehospital project

8/9/2019 Public Servants Salary Hike, Productivity Improvement and Lessons From Dompe EHospital Project

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Public servants salary hike, productivityimprovement and lessons from Dompe eHospitalProject

A mega salary increase to public servants- February 2,2015A mega giveaway ofered in the Interim udget 2015, presented to!arliament last wee", has been the proposal to increase the salaries o#public servants across the board$ In terms o# this proposal, the salary

increase o# %s$ &000 given in the udget 2015 presented in 'ovember lastyear is to be topped up by a #urther %s$ (000 in two stages ) %s$ 5000 #romFebruary 2015 and the balance %s$ 2000 #rom *une$A physician diagnosing a patient at +ompe ospital

his top-up proposal is estimated to cost an additional %s$ .. billion$ Asalary increase o# this magnitude has been /usti ed on the grounds that it
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would produce a team o# satis ed public servants who have been agitatedby a mar"ed erosion o# real purchasing power due to increases in the costo# living not matched by a compensating salary increase in the past$

here is an element o# truth in this argument$ For instance, a typical bas"eto# goods consumed by a #amily and contained in the olombo onsumers!rice Inde3 had cost %s$ 2(,4(2 in 200($ he same bas"et has nearly doubled to slightly more than %s$ 50,000 by the end 201 when the publicservants salaries on average had increased by less than 506 during thisperiod according to the entral an" s nominal wage rate indices$ ence, aneed has arisen, it has been argued, #or a mega salary increase$

m hannelling at +ompe ospital
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7alary increase is given by the public in the e3pectation o#better services

here is a general belie# that this salary increase was givenby the 8overnment, but it was not$ 9n the contrary, it was

given by the public who will ultimately bear the bill asta3payers$ hey will have to ma"e available the needed #undsby paying ta3es or agreeing to #orego some o# the e3istingpublic services or handing their savings to the 8overnment asloans or a combination o# some or all$ :hatever the method,it amounts to a sacri ce o# their consumption$ :hy shouldthey choose to ma"e such a sacri ce on behal# o# thecountry s public servants; hat is because the public servants

have to give bac" what has been sacri ced by the public byway o# improved public services$

hese improved public services come #rom an increase in productivity andincreased productivity comes #rom inventions and innovations$ Inventionsand innovations come #rom the ac


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Initial advice

An increase in productivity in the public sector is a must he increased salaries will place public servants in a com#ortable, worry-#ree and satis#ying position$ ut it also in=icts a new obligation on them$

hat obligation is to improve their productivity and provide a better serviceto the public$For instance, a teacher who gets the salary increase should ac


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Age is no barrier to using I

A conscious public policy to improve productivity is needed

ut the improvement in the productivity o# public service does not comeautomatically in response to a re


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A pharmacist at wor" at +ompe ospitalIt is there#ore a matter #or the ?inistry o# !ublic Administration to #ormulatesuch a public policy supported by the new ?inistry o# !olicy !lanning and#unded by the ?inistry o# Finance$ In #ormulating such a policy it isnecessary to identi#y the distinction between invention and innovation$Invention means Gcreating something anew H innovation means Gma"ing useo# those inventions in a practical situation to ease the li#e o# the public $

ence, inventions are the wor" o# true creators$ Innovations are the wor" o# entrepreneurs who will put them into commercial use$ Accordingly, in thecase o# public service, those who are engaged in innovations should act li"e

real entrepreneurs$
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!rivate entrepreneurs have incentives #or introducing innovationsIn the case o# the private sector, an entrepreneur is a person who ta"es ris"in using nancial, human and physical resources to produce an output witha view to selling in the mar"et #or pro t$ is survival and sustainability

depend on his ability to continue toma"e pro ts$

e #aces competition #rom hiscompetitors and there#ore he has tointroduce innovations continuously toremain ahead o# them$ It re


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political machinery$7uch incentives can ta"e the #orm o# accelerated promotional prospectsand special salary increases on thebasis o# the success o# theinnovations introduced$ A#ter such asystem has been

put in place, it is necessary toappoint some selected publicservants who have to #unction ascatalysts or change agents inintroducing innovations and ensurethat they will be continued till the

nal goal o# improving productivityin the public sector is reached$

I9 e3periment by !I? not usedA nucleus o# such a team o#catalysts has already been trainedby the !ostgraduate Institute o#?anagement o# the Jniversity o# 7ri

*ayewardenepura drawing publicoKcers #rom all the ministries anddepartments$

hese oKcers, numbering 1&0, anddesignated hie# Innovation 9Kcersor I9s, have completed a +iplomain e8overnment at !I? #unded bythe In#ormation and ommunication

echnology Agency or I A$ hese I9s were e3pected to go
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bac" to their wor" places and #unction as catalysts in change management$owever, without support #rom the political machinery, these I9s still

remain totally unutilised and conse


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change agent to carry it #orward$ he rst could come as response to the call by the ?inister o# Finance andsteered by the ?inistry o# !olicy !lanning$ he second can be lled by the1&0 odd trained I9s presently scattered all over the public service withoutbeing utilised$

+igitisation o# operations #rom beginning to end:hen a patient visits the hospital #or the rst time, his particulars arecaptured into the server and he is issued with a barcode identity generatedby the system containing his particulars which he has to produce everytime he visits the hospital$I# #or some reason the barcode is lost or misplaced, his particulars could stillbe accessed by using other options 'ame, 'I 'o$, place o# residence ordate o# birth$ Another oKcer scans the barcode identity and issues thepatient with a computer generated number #or the day s service$ It alsospeci es the room o# the physician whom the patient should consult #orreceiving the treatment$

he physician scans the barcode and accesses the le pertaining to thepatient stored in the server$ It gives the #ull particulars o# the patient$ A#tere3amining the patient, the physician enters in the relevant elds o# the lethe diagnosis made, lab tests i# necessary, prescription o# medicines,

in/ections or immunisations prescribed or i# it is a physical in/ury, thetreatments to be given in the dressing room$

o minimise the data entry, which ta"es time, a readymade menu listing alloptions pops up on the screen automatically$ All these are instantlytransmitted to the respective units o# the hospital through an intranet$ heoKcers at the respective units are also able to access the patient s le byscanning the barcode and provide the necessary treatment #or him$ I# it is alab test, the results o# the test are added to the patient s le and the

physician could access it when the patient visits the hospital subse


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through the system and added to the patient s le$ :hen the patientrevisits the hospital, his complete medical history is thus available to thephysician to ma"e a holistic assessment o# the patient s status and decideon the curative treatment$

he process has completely done away with the paperwor"$ A system hasnow been introduced to get appointments by using mobile phones therebycutting down the waiting time o# the patients signi cantly$ his is indeed arevolutionary innovation introduced to a local hospital in the country$ :hatit has achieved with its limited resources ran"s on par with the e3cellentlydigitised practices being used by modernised private healthcare institutionsin emerging countries li"e hailand as presented by this writer in a previousarticle Davailable at http EEwww$#t$l"E201&E04E1OEprivate-healthcare-providers-in-sri-lan"a-should-benchmar"-with-better-service-providers-abroadE $ y any standard, +ompe e ospital ran"s higher than any o# theprivate sector healthcare institution in 7ri Pan"a$

+ompe e ospital pro/ect can be replicatedAll the staf, including sanitary wor"ers and ambulance drivers, has beentrained in the use o# the computers$ It is ama>ing that old oKcers who hadhad the #ear o# even touching a computer have become pro cient in evenaccessing in#ormation #rom the internet today$ It has in #act improved their

sel#-value, dignity and con dence$!atients too have now become #amiliar with the use o# I in delivering aneKcient service to them at the hospital$ Its side bene t is that the localcommunity has now become I savvy, especially in the use o# the socialmedia and email communications$ he +ompe e ospital pro/ect is asuccess and could easily be replicated in all the hospitals in the country$

he costs involved could be accommodated under the 8overnment senhanced budget #or health services at &6 o# 8+!$

Pearning lessons #rom e ospital !ro/ect here are a number o# lessons that can be learnt #rom the solitary e ospitalpro/ect at +ompe ospital$ First, oKcers in the public service are trainableprovided they are given right types o# incentives$7econd, one catalyst can efectively implement an innovation pro/ect$ hird,costs o# introducing innovations are not that high$ Fourth, every rupee


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spent on innovations brings bac" more than one rupee s worth to thepublic$ Fi#th, there is no need #or reinventing the wheel and the e3isting"nowledge can be tapped #or introducing innovations and improvingproductivity$

7pend money on capacity building o# public servantsowever, the campaign #or improving productivity re

public servants’ salary hike, productivity improvement and lessons from dompe ehospital project

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