The Ministry of Health and Welfare has provisionally estimated that if the 'integrated care' service is to be launched nationwide in March next year, an additional 7,000 to 7,200 personnel will need to be deployed across local governments. Integrated care aims to comprehensively provide medical, nursing, and care services for the elderly by local governments. However, there are concerns that 'proper preparations are not being made.'
◇ "Average of 2 additional personnel needed in each town and village"
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is currently conducting a study on personnel requirements for the full implementation of the integrated care service in collaboration with the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA). In integrated care, the national government and higher-level local governments play a supporting role, while local governments take the lead in implementing services that suit regional characteristics.
The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs is analyzing 100 local governments that are piloting the integrated care service. According to research findings so far, it has been provisionally estimated that in order to implement integrated care in March next year, an additional 7,000 to 7,200 personnel need to be deployed across local governments. Given that there are 3,500 towns and villages nationwide, this means that an average of 2 dedicated integrated care personnel needs to be allocated per local government.
However, it seems difficult to recruit all integrated care personnel as new civil servants. During the pilot operating period, existing civil servants were assigned the integrated care duties. One expert noted, 'Considering the government budget and other factors, it is virtually impossible to recruit 7,000 to 7,200 integrated care civil servants in a single year.'
To properly operate the integrated care service, additional private personnel such as social workers and medical professionals are also needed. After selecting the target recipients, the service will be operated by providing fall prevention measures in homes, meal delivery, and household support. Additionally, doctors or nurses should visit the recipients to provide health management, and vehicle support should be available to take them to hospitals or public health centers. An expert stated, 'Not all tasks can be handled by civil servants, and it may be difficult to easily find properly trained private personnel.'
◇ "Starting without securing personnel and budget will lead to problems''
The law that serves as the basis for integrated care, titled 'Law on the Integrated Support for Local Care such as Medical and Long-term Care', was enacted in March last year. It is set to be implemented in March next year after a pilot period of two years. However, it has been reported that most local governments are facing difficulties from the preparation stage.
At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare instructed local governments to conduct pilot projects while utilizing personnel from the 'visiting welfare team' (find-welfare team) in towns and villages. The primary task of the find-welfare team is to identify crisis households facing difficulties in income, housing, and health. This organization was created to prevent incidents similar to the 2014 'Songpa three mothers' case. It seems challenging to expect expertise in integrated care services. Voices from the field indicate that 'find-welfare team civil servants are struggling to perform their primary duties while also handling integrated care.'
Lee Yong-kyu, chair of the Korea Social Welfare Administration Research Association, a meeting of current social welfare public servants, stated, 'If integrated care is implemented without sufficient personnel and budget, it could lead to the 'tragedy of social welfare public servants' in 2013.' At that time, the government's welfare system was rapidly expanding, but the number of civil servants in charge could not keep up, resulting in five overworked welfare civil servants taking their own lives.
The Presidential Committee on Policy Planning, responsible for the national agenda of the Lee Jae-myung administration, is expected to announce plans related to the promotion of integrated care in August. It is reported that the announcement will include information about launching a pan-governmental promotion team within this year.