Only 14 out of the more than 1,000 long-term care facilities in the nation are ranked as first-rate institutions by the government, Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong superintendent Chen Yong-shing (陳永興) said yesterday, citing a government study.
According to a 2010 evaluation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior, only 1 percent of the 1,033 nursing homes or long-term care facilities in Taiwan are rated as excellent, Chen said, adding that the average waiting time for a bed in these institutions is three months.
He said a shortage of certified long-term carers and nurses was the main cause of the low quality of these facilities and prevented them from improving their services.
Chen called on the government to solve the problem by enacting measures such as amending laws to encourage or require corporations to invest in long-term care facilities or establishing a mechanism to offer financial aid to medical students who decided to enter the field.
“In Yilan County, there were 299 new nurses in one year, but 209 left the workforce during the same time,” he said. “For instance, Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong [in the county’s Luodong Township (羅東)] is 89 nurses short, 21 percent of the total number of nurses it needs. At one time, more staff were quitting than being hired.”
The shortage has had a domino effect on the hospital’s hospice rooms, with “seven beds closed due to a lack of nurses,” Chen said.
Long-term carers are in high demand as well. The Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training trains about 6,000 long-term carers every year, but the turnover rate is as high as 70 percent, he said.
“A lot of nurses and carers leave due to a stressful and poorly equipped work environment and low salary,” Chen said, urging the new Ministry of Health and Welfare to pass the long-term care services draft act to improve the quality of healthcare services for the rapidly growing elderly population.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS