An alliance of civic groups yesterday urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to re-evaluate long-term care workers’ payment standards and retainment measures before launching the Long-Term Care 3.0 Policy next year.
The Taiwan Home Service Strategic Alliance and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yue-chin (林月琴) held a news conference at the Legislative Yuan, saying that they are concerned that the increase in the number of long-term care workers cannot keep up with the growth of long-term care dependents.
Since the Taiwan’s long-term care program was first launched in 2016, the yearly budget has increased by about 18 times, and the number of long-term care dependents and care centers have also increased significantly, Lin said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Government statistics show that as of the end of October, Taiwan’s population of elderly people (those aged 65 years or older) has exceeded 4.65 million, and ministry data show that the estimated number of people who need long-term care services this year is about 900,000.
However, the number of long-term care workers only increased from about 25,000 in 2016 to about 100,000 this year, Lin said.
If the number of long-term care workers cannot keep up with care dependents, care quality would have to be sacrificed, and workers could leave the field due to stress caused by overwork, she said.
The ministry should re-evaluate its payment standards for long-term care workers and measures to retain workers before launching the next phase of the national long-term care policy to ensure its sustainability, she added.
Alliance chairwoman Tu Hsin-ning (涂心寧) said the current payment standards have not been adjusted for eight years, and with rapidly increasing demand, the burden on in-home caregivers has been continuously increasing.
Some in-home caregivers told the alliance that they once had been responsible for five to six families at a time, but the average number of families they took care of last year was 10.8, she said.
In one case, an in-home caregiver reported that they had to visit 11 families a day, and they were so busy that they hardly had time to drink water, she said.
While experienced workers are quitting their jobs due to physical exhaustion and burnout, young people are afraid to take these jobs, she said.
The alliance urged the government to re-evaluate the workers’ payment standard, which it said should keep up with rising prices, and improve their working conditions to retain current workers, attract new ones, and avoid the Long-Term Care 3.0 plan becoming crippled due to a shortage of workers.
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
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
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
RSS