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Associate Professor Luong Ngoc Khue speaks at the workshop |
At yesterday’s workshop on improving the effectiveness of social work activities in hospitals and asking for comments on amendments to Circular 43/2015/TT-BYT stipulating tasks and forms of implementation of activities carried out by social workers in the Southern region organized by the Ministry of Health, experts believe that social work activities in hospitals are extremely necessary and increasingly play an important role healthcare settings such as medical infirmaries and clinics.
Social workers in hospital settings help support the psycho-social well-being of patients and staff.
Therefore, it is necessary to standardize this activity so that social work activities in hospitals become more professional and effective.
According to Associate Professor Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, most people carrying out social work are currently part-time accounting for more than 60 percent, while the rate of officers/employees of social work departments/teams with specialized training in social work is still low. Until now, there is no training program for social workers working in hospitals or medical facilities and there are no competency-based standards for social workers in healthcare facilities.
In addition, the facilities and equipment for social work in a hospital have not been invested properly. Very few hospitals have funding to carry out health-related social work and most existing funding comes mainly from sponsors and benefactors. Moreover, the present remuneration regime for social workers in the hospital is not appropriate.
Sharing experience at the Ho Chi Minh City-based University Medical Center, Dr. Tran Van Hung, Head of the center’s Social Work Department, said that there should be regulations on the competency standards of social workers in the hospital and they also need to be granted practicing certificate as other medical staff.
Additionally, according to Dr. Tran Van Hung, social workers should be given additional duties of social workers who are the primary providers of psycho-social services and intervention to patients and patients' families in hospitals.
Sharing the same opinion, many delegates also recommended that the establishment of a social work department in the hospital is extremely necessary. However, if facilities cannot establish a social work department, they can set up social work teams instead. These teams do not necessarily belong to any department, and hospital managers will decide to arrange based on their own needs, specific tasks, and scale of operations.
In addition, social workers should give support to medical staff in hospitals as medical staff currently are facing many pressures and difficulties when salaries and benefits are not appropriate. Therefore, social work teams need to provide psychological support for medical staff as well as connect financial resources to provide financial and material assistance to medical staff in difficult circumstances.
At the same time, social workers in infirmaries or clinics should work as a bridge to improve the relationship between medical staff and patients and patients' families.
Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Personnel Organization under the Ministry of Health, said that most national hospitals in Vietnam have established social work departments/teams while the rates in hospitals in provinces and districts are 96.8 percent and 89.9 percent.
After more than 10 years of formation and development, social work activities in medical facilities are gradually developing professionally in terms of legal document systems, human resources, training/training, and scientific studies on social work activities.
