■ No one is coming
“The government has no idea how bad the situation is.” Kikuo Tsujimoto (73), chairman of the NPO Social Care Seiwa-kai (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo), which handles home care services, sighed deeply.
Home care services, which accounted for 50% of the organization’s business about 10 years ago, have now shrunk to about 20%. The organization is supporting its operations with welfare services for the disabled.
The background to this is an overwhelming shortage of personnel to handle home care.
The NPO has fewer than 10 staff members for home care. About 15 years ago, there were more than 20 registered non-regular helpers, but they have left the field one after another due to old age and other reasons, and now there are only three. Even when new staff are recruited, they are not able to attract staff.
There are many elderly people living alone or with dementia in the area, and there is a high demand for home care services, but “even if we want to take on new work, we cannot do so.”
In Setagaya Ward, there are many home care businesses with fewer than 20 employees like this NPO, but they are all facing a shortage of staff and aging. It is said that many managers are considering closing down their businesses, and Tsujimoto also reveals that “we are also considering transferring our business to other businesses.”
■The price of “reducing hours”
In response to the shortage of home care staff, the government has been steering in the direction of efficiently utilizing limited staff, such as by shortening the time for providing services per session.
However, there are also current situations in which this “reducing hours” is actually causing problems for those in the field.
Ruka Fujiwara (68), who works as a registered helper at a business in Tokyo, has been keeping an eye on changes in the lifestyles and health of home care recipients for over 30 years.
Initially, it took more than an hour per visit to help with daily life, such as cleaning and cooking, but now it often takes less than 45 minutes. “We tend to get distracted by finishing within the allotted time, and it’s becoming difficult to work with clients and discuss the work together,” she complains.
She also faced difficulties in terms of treatment. The number of places she visited increased as the hours of service were shortened, but the time spent traveling and waiting until the next job also increased, resulting in a lot of unpaid free time, and her annual income was halved from about 3 million yen to about 1.5 million yen. “I can’t work with peace of mind, and even if I’m motivated, I can’t continue. Many of my colleagues have left the field,” she says, biting her lip.
■The direction of forcing sacrifices
In addition, this year, the government revised the nursing care fee, lowering the basic fee for home care services while raising the fee for nursing care insurance facilities such as special nursing homes for the elderly, and increasing the overall fee by 1.59%.
In a preliminary survey of visiting care services, the reason given for the reduction was that the business was well managed, but industry groups are dissatisfied, saying, “This is because businesses that can efficiently visit residents, such as those in senior housing with services (Sakaju), have high profit margins, and their management situations are different from those of businesses that travel around the area.”
Full article below
[Sankei Shimbun]
2024/7/21 (Sun) 7:30
The nursing care insurance premiums are constantly increasing, but the bureaucrats are always taking cuts, so the people in the field are exhausted.
And yet they’re still voting for the LDP, idiots.
Just as individuals have a fantastical sense of omnipotence, companies are also chasing the fantastical talent (Prince Charming) so much that they are suffering from a labor shortage.
You say the government doesn’t understand, but it definitely does
They know and are pretending not to understand
They probably want to concentrate care in facilities
That makes more sense in terms of the efficiency of care, but they turn a blind eye to the plight of visiting care agencies that will bear the brunt of the burden
There are too many people who don’t understand that apart from the direct damage caused by natural disasters, there is a close relationship between these and politics.
Great idea lol
>>13
Don’t you know that businesses are going out of business one after another?
Don’t make such embarrassing comments.
Protection and security for our own citizens is the top priority.
I want a euthanasia facility. Let me end my worthless life whenever I want.
In the end, it’s the government that allows this system to work.
build something like a gigantic lifelong housing complex
and move the elderly from regions where nursing care services are inadequate
to these complexes
and have all their property cleared away and confiscated
and then use tax money to provide the necessary services efficiently until they die
it’s not realistic unless they do this much.
It’s what they call a special nursing home.
They already have them.
Hmm
So there is a problem
We have no choice but to expand this
Freedom of housing choice guaranteed by the Constitution
If we followed things like this, the national treasury would go bankrupt
Collect and manage efficiently
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