Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) promised to hold a face-to-face meeting with trade unions of medical workers, after they staged a rally in Taipei yesterday accusing him of being unwilling to negotiate on primary healthcare workforce issues.
More than a dozen representatives of the Taiwan Federation of Medical Unions (TFMU), the Taiwan Nurses’ Union, the Taiwan Medical Laboratory Scientists’ Union and several local unions yesterday held signs in front of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) building.
With signs reading: “Only attends banquets, but runs away from negotiations with primary healthcare workers,” “Overwhelmed health system, patients die in vain,” “Promised to communicate, but hiding after taking office,” the representatives said that since Chiu took office a year ago, he has repeatedly refused to negotiate with the unions, so they call him “the least communicative minister ever.”
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
TFMU head Chao Lin-yu (趙麟宇) said the ministry in 2023 promised the unions that it would hold meetings with them at least once every three months, and when Chiu took office in May last year, he had pledged to put mandatory minimum nurse-to-patient ratios into law, push forward National Health Insurance (NHI) reforms, and negotiate with them regularly.
However, the ministry only held two meetings with them in the past year, one hosted by him and the other by a deputy minister, and it even only informed them about canceling the last one through a phone call, he said.
Facing a serious shortage of healthcare workers, the unions have frequently suggested solutions, but the ministry has not responded directly, so they are losing trust in the government, he said.
Chiu has failed in six subjects — negotiation with primary healthcare workers, improving healthcare workers’ workplaces and salaries, mandating nurse-to-patient ratios, halting the nursing shortage, legislating healthcare workforce standards, and reforming the NHI payment system — the unions said.
Kaohsiung Medical University Labor Union and TFMU member Ko Hsin-hsuan (柯心炫) said more than 1,000 nurses have left their jobs so far this year, and every day primary healthcare workers are facing a health system that is falling apart, but the ministry is letting it slide.
They urge the ministry to immediately resume the regular meetings and listen to their voices, such as suggestions to limit healthcare workers’ cross-unit support assignments and limit the number of workers on duty on typhoon days, she said.
They call on the ministry to demonstrate its firm resolve to improve healthcare workplaces, she added.
After the rally, Chiu invited reporters and union representatives into the CDC building for talks.
He did not cancel the regular negotiation meetings, as it is “very meaningful,” he said, adding that there might have been some issues in the process of conveying the message to the unions.
The ministry has consistently maintained smooth communications with medical associations and unions, and it cherishes the voices of all frontline healthcare workers, so whenever they propose a good idea, he would ask agencies to discuss and implement it as soon as possible, Chiu said.
Regarding the nurse-to-patient ratio mandate, the ministry has begun giving out bonuses to healthcare facilities that achieved the nurse-to-patient ratio standards set for the three shifts, and the situation has improved in many hospitals, so the ministry would continue step by step toward legislating it, he said.
Chiu promised the unions to establish a point of contact within three days, and hold a meeting every three months, with the next meeting expected to be held next month at the earliest.
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