Kyoohong Cho Emphasizes 'Nursing and Care Integrated Service Reform' During Site Visit

Visit to Seongae Medical Foundation Seongae Hospital on the 5th
Listening to opinions on reducing caregiving burden
"Hospitalization without caregiving worries starting with severe patients"

On the 5th, Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, visited Seongae Hospital of the Seongae Medical Foundation located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to encourage workers in the integrated nursing and caregiving service ward and to listen to on-site opinions regarding measures to reduce the caregiving burden on the public.

This on-site visit was conducted to collect field opinions to ensure the smooth implementation of the "Improvement Plan for the Integrated Nursing and Caregiving Service System" announced in December last year.

The integrated nursing and caregiving service is a system where, when a patient is admitted to a general hospital (acute care hospital), nurses, nursing assistants, and care workers provide inpatient services including caregiving without the need for a guardian to stay or hire a private caregiver.

As of the end of December 2022, 656 hospital-level medical institutions (approximately 70,000 beds) are participating, with about 2.04 million users.

For patients admitted to the integrated nursing and caregiving service ward, caregiving costs are reduced by about 90,000 KRW per day. For example, when admitted to a six-person room in a general hospital, patients had to pay 112,197 KRW (as of 2023) for hospitalization and caregiving fees, but when admitted to the integrated nursing and caregiving service ward, they only need to pay a personal hospitalization fee of 22,340 KRW.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to introduce dedicated wards for severe patients, such as those undergoing major surgery or suffering from dementia and delirium, starting in July this year, and to expand the deployment of nursing assistants up to 3.3 times to significantly strengthen caregiving functions.

Minister Cho said, "We plan to completely reform the integrated nursing and caregiving service so that severe patients can be admitted to hospitals without worrying about caregiving," adding, "We will faithfully implement measures to reduce the caregiving burden on the public by reflecting the difficulties and suggestions expressed by nurses, nursing assistants, and care workers on the front lines."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.