A government injection of NT$4.7 billion (US$158 million) to improve hospital services and increase nurses’ welfare and salaries from 2009 through this year has had a very limited impact and might have boosted hospitals’ profits instead, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday.
Chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said the foundation had interviewed several nurses and heard about their “unreasonable” working conditions, such as difficulty taking leave, staff shortages, frequent shift changes and disorderly work schedules.
Su said the Department of Health had earmarked about NT$830 million in 2009, NT$830 million in 2010, NT$1 billion last year and NT$2 billion this year exclusively for improving the quality of nursing care, promoting nurses’ welfare and employing more nursing personnel.
In addition to the earmarked funding, the total budget provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance to hospitals increased by NT$14.6 billion in 2009, NT$11.4 billion in 2010, NT$11.6 billion last year and NT$16.1 billion this year, for a total increase of NT$53.7 billion in four years, said National Health Insurance Medical Expenditure Negotiation Committee representative Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁), a former chairman of the foundation.
However, figures provided by the department showed that the average monthly increase in nursing personnel last year was 1.92 percent, or a total of 1,709 new nurses, foundation secretary-general Chen Chih-yi (陳智義) said.
Based on last year’s funding of NT$1 billion, divided by the 1,709 new nurses, the nurses should have had an average monthly salary of at least NT$49,000, which is slightly higher than the average salary for nurses, Chen said.
However, the large increase in the hospitals’ budgets did not go toward improving the quality of care or nurses’ welfare, he said.
“Consumers pay more and more money to improve the quality of care and nurses’ welfare, but the actual improvements are very limited,” Hsieh said, adding that nurses and medical personnel continue to be exploited by hospitals.
Data from the National Union of Nurses’ Associations shows that the earmarked funds had no impact on nurses’ working conditions, Su said.
Nurses on the day shift had to take care of between eight and 13 patients at the same time, 10 to 20 patients during night shifts and 20 to 30 on late night shifts, Su said.
The extremely heavy workload has led to nurses quitting and people receiving poor healthcare, Hsieh said.
About 7 percent of nursing positions are currently vacant, which means about 7,000 new nurses are needed in Taiwan, he said.
“It’s not a problem that can be solved by continuously increasing the budgets for hospitals, because the problem lies with hospitals making more profits by exploiting medical workers,” he said.
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
REBUFFED: In response to Chinese criticism over recent arms sales, Washington urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue instead of threats and intimidation Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues. The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin
RSS