Shortage of social workers

The profession of "serving a hundred families"

On the first day of the week, the Examination Department of Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital had thousands of patients coming for examination. Many people were confused about how to complete the examination procedures and were all given detailed instructions by the hospital's Social Work Department staff.

MSc. Nguyen Hong Diem, Head of the Social Work Department, who has been working at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital for more than 20 years, said that every day at the hospital's second facility (Thu Duc City) alone, there are about 3,000-4,000 patients coming for examination and treatment. Overloaded, doctors do not have enough time and energy to advise and answer all the questions of patients and their families, leading to unnecessary conflicts.

“In fact, many relatives, because of their concern for the patient, have conflicts with doctors. After we find out the cause, provide advice, and explain in detail, most of the patients are happy and actively cooperate with the treating doctors. Thanks to that, the medical team also reduces psychological pressure, improving the quality of medical examination and treatment,” shared Master Nguyen Hong Diem.

MSc. Nguyen Hong Diem, Head of Social Work Department, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, presented gifts to patients being treated at the hospital.

In addition to being an “extended arm” between patients and doctors, social workers in hospitals also regularly “knock on doors” to mobilize philanthropists and businesses to help disadvantaged and unlucky patients overcome serious illnesses. Although it is very hard, they feel very happy when patients report that they are healthy and discharged from the hospital.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that currently 100% of central hospitals, 97% of provincial and municipal hospitals and nearly 90% of district hospitals have social work departments/teams. However, the treatment regime for social work staff in hospitals is not suitable; social work staff in hospitals are mainly part-time (accounting for over 60%), while the proportion of staff/employees of social work departments/teams with specialized training is low. In addition, there is currently no training program for social work staff working in hospitals/medical examination and treatment facilities; there are no standards for the capacity of social work staff in medical facilities...

Removing human resource difficulties

According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the country currently has a network of about 230,000 social work collaborators, civil servants and public employees. Of these, 35,000 are civil servants, public employees and workers working at public and non-public social establishments; nearly 100,000 people work at associations and unions at all levels; the rest are collaborators in poverty reduction, social evil prevention, child protection and community development... The demand for social work human resources in Vietnam is very large, but currently the whole country has only 76 schools and facilities training social work human resources at college and university levels, thus only meeting 30% of the need for social assistance.

In Ho Chi Minh City alone, there are currently 6,500 people working in social work. Specifically, 3,000 people work in drug rehabilitation facilities; more than 1,000 people are officers and employees of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of districts and communes and social work staff of wards, communes and towns; about 2,500 people from the Department of Health, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Department of Justice, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union... supporting 92 social assistance facilities (public and non-public), caring for, nurturing, and implementing social policies for about 170,000 people receiving regular social benefits in the community.

“Coordination with social work training institutions has been implemented before. However, the coordination has only been limited to individual programs and projects, not systematized into a long-term cooperation plan and gathering many participants, and has not had a clear system of goals and targets. Therefore, the internal strength and strengths of social work training institutions have not been fully exploited so that the city's social work profession has the opportunity to develop most strongly,” said Mr. Le Van Thinh, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Mr. Le Van Thinh, to overcome difficulties in recruiting social work human resources, aiming for more professionalism and efficiency, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has recently signed a cooperation agreement with 7 universities and academies in the city to organize training, retraining, and fostering to improve professional qualifications, skills, and social work skills for cadres, civil servants, employees, and social work collaborators to meet the requirements in the current period.

Dr. Pham Ngoc Thanh, Director of Campus II, University of Labor and Social Affairs (in Ho Chi Minh City) shared that social work is a fairly new profession in Vietnam, so there needs to be cooperation and coordination between departments, branches, and training institutions to promote the development of social work. The school is committed to accompanying the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City in training and retraining human resources who are both professionally competent and dedicated to the social work profession.

Associate Professor, Dr. NGUYEN TUAN HUNG, Deputy Director of the Department of Organization and Personnel (Ministry of Health): Early promulgation of standards for social work staff capacity In order for social work activities in medical facilities to be effective, medical staff and employees to feel secure in their long-term commitment to the hospital..., in the coming time, it is necessary to soon promulgate standards for social work staff capacity in hospitals; complete Circular 43/2015/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health regulating the forms and tasks of social work staff in hospitals; develop criteria for assessing the quality of social work in hospitals. At the same time, promote training, coaching, scientific research; establish additional departments of social work at Hanoi Medical University, Faculty of Medicine - Ho Chi Minh City National University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy...

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thieu-hut-nhan-luc-cong-tac-xa-hoi-post716443.html