The Ministry of Health and Welfare is to hold a cross-ministerial discussion on the Barthel Index score requirement to qualify for hiring a foreign caregiver after a doctor was physically assaulted by a relative of a patient for refusing to issue a diagnosis certificate, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said yesterday.
The index is an ordinal scale that measures a person’s ability to independently perform daily life activities.
A doctor, surnamed Yen (顏), at Tri-Service General Hospital last week posted on Facebook a video of the incident, which showed a tall man waving his fist several times at Yen. Although several nurses tried to hold him back, the man still hit Yen twice in the face.
Photo: CNA
The man had asked Yen to issue a Barthel Index diagnosis certificate for his mother, but Yen told him that his mother did not meet the criteria for nursing dependency and that further observation was needed.
The incident has sparked discussions about whether the index should be a requirement to qualify for care services, such as hiring an at-home foreign caregiver, which is more affordable than paying for a local caregiver by the hour.
A local Chinese-language news report last week cited former Department of Health deputy director Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁) as saying that the need for caregivers is rapidly increasing due to an aging population, but the Barthel Index score requirement runs counter to the needs of the public and hiring at-home foreign caregivers should be decided by market forces.
The ministry on Sunday said that the Barthel Index score is used to assess the need to recruit migrant workers for long-term care services.
If the requirement is dropped, a careful review and discussions with the Ministry of Labor would be needed, it said.
At the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞) said that she condemns violence, but she also questions whether the Barthel Index score is an appropriate assessment method.
Wen said she has heard that some patient’s families beg doctors to help them write one , while others try to buy a certificate through illegal channels.
Wang said the Barthel Index score requirement is intended to serve as a reference, but the ministry would discuss with other government agencies whether it must be mandatory.
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