Japan Press Weekly

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2015 January 7 - 13 [WELFARE]

Half of special nursing-care homes in Tokyo are shorthanded

Nearly half of special nursing-care homes in Tokyo are suffering from a chronic shortage of care workers, and most homes are worried about a worsening of the already understaffed situation due to the planned cuts in the state remuneration paid to nursing-care homes for their services.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Social Welfare Council in December last year surveyed 305 special nursing-care homes for the elderly. The survey shows that 47.2% of the facilities fall short of meeting the government-set standards for the ratio of care staff to patients.

Because of the shorthanded situation, some facilities had to cancel on-site events, stop the short-stay service, or limit new admissions of home residents. Nevertheless, 59.7% of these facilities could not hire new employees.

About 80% of the surveyed facilities responded that better working conditions, including higher wages and a higher remuneration, would help solve the present shortage of staff problem.

The government is planning to cut its remuneration paid for special nursing-care services in April, but 83.6% of the facilities responded that the planned reduction would have an adverse effect on staff shortages.

The Japanese Communist Party members’ group of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on January 6 made representations to Tokyo Governor Masuzoe Yoichi, demanding that the metropolitan government create a system to subsidize the hiring and pay increases for each facility in order to secure the necessary number of nursing-care workers.

Calling for an increase in care workers’ wages, Masuzoe became the governor in February last year. JCP assemblyperson Oyama Tomoko said, “The governor should demand that the national government not cut nursing-care remuneration.”