January 25, 2015
Japan’s government is set to transfer the responsibility for part of the public nursing-care services from the state to municipalities in April. However, it has come to light that more than 70% of the municipalities in the country are unlikely to be able to complete the preparations necessary for the policy change by the end of March.
The Abe government last year rammed through a bill to cut medical and nursing-care services as well as to impose heavier financial burdens on the general public. Based on the law, the administration is planning to shift to the municipalities the state’s responsibility for providing visiting and day care services to people whose level of need for nursing-care is considered to be “low”.
The Central Council for the Promotion of Social Security conducted a survey between September and November last year regarding the municipalities’ state of preparation for the policy change. By the end of the year, the organization received responses from 1,057 municipalities in 35 prefectures, or 62% of all the municipalities in the nation.
According to the survey, 41% of the respondents said that they would be unable to start providing those care services on April 1.
The state’s plan requires local governments to offer “various care services” by using “various persons” such as volunteers without experience or qualifications.
To the question asking whether local authorities can supply “various care services” starting in April, only 9% responded “Yes”, while 73% responded “No”.
The organization’s deputy secretary-general Maesawa Toshiko said, “Implementing the state’s new policy will impose another burden on persons requiring nursing-care as well as on their families. We’ll continue to work to further strengthen the movement to push both the national and local governments to provide all necessary care services to anyone who needs it.”
Past related article:
> 3,200 workers rally in protest against cuts in social services [October 24, 2014]
The Abe government last year rammed through a bill to cut medical and nursing-care services as well as to impose heavier financial burdens on the general public. Based on the law, the administration is planning to shift to the municipalities the state’s responsibility for providing visiting and day care services to people whose level of need for nursing-care is considered to be “low”.
The Central Council for the Promotion of Social Security conducted a survey between September and November last year regarding the municipalities’ state of preparation for the policy change. By the end of the year, the organization received responses from 1,057 municipalities in 35 prefectures, or 62% of all the municipalities in the nation.
According to the survey, 41% of the respondents said that they would be unable to start providing those care services on April 1.
The state’s plan requires local governments to offer “various care services” by using “various persons” such as volunteers without experience or qualifications.
To the question asking whether local authorities can supply “various care services” starting in April, only 9% responded “Yes”, while 73% responded “No”.
The organization’s deputy secretary-general Maesawa Toshiko said, “Implementing the state’s new policy will impose another burden on persons requiring nursing-care as well as on their families. We’ll continue to work to further strengthen the movement to push both the national and local governments to provide all necessary care services to anyone who needs it.”
Past related article:
> 3,200 workers rally in protest against cuts in social services [October 24, 2014]
