Community care workers to receive about 7% pay rise under new guidelines

About 23,000 staff in community care organisations (CCOs) will receive an increase of about 7 per cent or more in total annual remuneration under updated salary guidelines to be implemented by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

The announcement was made on 17 February by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung during a doorstop interview at Alexandra Hospital.

To support organisations facing higher manpower costs, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will provide a first tranche of about S$100 million.

Mr Ong said the updated salary guidelines would involve “about a 7 per cent or more increase in the total annual remuneration” for the 23,000 CCO staff.

He noted that higher salaries would raise operating costs for CCOs, and that government support was therefore necessary to help defray these expenses.

Describing the move as “quite a significant” step, Mr Ong linked it to broader efforts to uplift the healthcare workforce across different care settings.

He said that during Chinese New Year visits in 2025, he had announced salary increases for major groups of healthcare workers, including nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, and administrative and support staff.

Those adjustments were implemented in July 2025.

“When I announced it last year, there was a group that said, ‘How about us?’” Mr Ong said, referring to community care staff.

He added that he had earlier visited St Luke’s Hospital, where he met several CCO workers.

Community care organisations provide long-term and intermediate care services, including nursing homes, senior care centres and home personal care.

Mr Ong said that alongside salary revisions, the Government would also increase subsidies for long-term care services provided by CCOs.

The maximum subsidy for residential long-term care will be raised to 80 per cent from July 2026.

Currently, the maximum subsidy stands at 75 per cent for citizens and 50 per cent for permanent residents.

“These sort of services are what CCOs provide,” Mr Ong said, referring to nursing homes, senior care centres and home personal care.

He emphasised that both higher wages and enhanced subsidies formed part of a broader support package for the sector.

In the next couple of months, MOH will issue detailed salary guidelines.

CCOs will need time to study the framework and make operational plans before implementation.

Mr Ong said the guidelines should be ready for implementation by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

“To all our CCO staff, hope you have some patience. In time to come, all this will be implemented,” he said.

He added that the aim was to make healthcare “an attractive career in every part of the healthcare system – whether it is in the acute hospital, outpatient or in a community care setting”.

“That way, I hope more people will join healthcare to do this very meaningful work for Singaporeans,” he said.

The move follows earlier wage adjustments for about 63,000 public sector healthcare professionals, whose monthly base salaries rose by up to 7 per cent from July 2025.

The Government has cited workforce sustainability and rising demand driven by population ageing as key reasons for strengthening manpower policies.

During his Chinese New Year visits, Mr Ong also spoke to patients and staff, distributed oranges, and joined healthcare workers in a traditional lohei session.

At Alexandra Hospital, he viewed a ward trialling remote monitoring cameras and wearable devices for virtual patient monitoring.

He was also briefed on the hospital’s redevelopment, which is set to reopen progressively from 2028, with key services remaining operational during upgrading works.

Services and operations will be scaled up incrementally to allow teams to refine workflows and clinical processes as the hospital expands.