<The Healthcare Personnel Support Act> took 8 years to be enacted since the KHMU demanded

Looking forward to the Act serving to set up criteria on the adequate number of employees and solve manpower shortage issues

<The Healthcare Personnel Support Act> was passed into legislation in consensus at the plenary session of the National Assembly on April 5. The Act will start being executed on October 6, six months from now. It is great to see the enactment, which has been longed for by over 800,000 healthcare workers, in 8 years since the KHMU initially proposed the Act in 2012.

According to the Act, a policy deliberation committee will be established within 6 months and a comprehensive action plan will follow, based on the systematic survey specific to different cases. In addition, with this, the central government will supposedly take more accountability for manpower supply and management.

It is also expected that a healthcare workers management center will be established to implement comprehensive policies and actions responsibly responding to healthcare personnel issues.

On April 5, the KHMU (Korea Health and Medical Workers Union, President Na Soon-ja) released a statement that the union was very pleased and wholly welcome the legislation of the Healthcare Personnel Support Act.

The Healthcare Personnel Support Act consists of 6 chapters and 20 articles with one additional clause.

The Act stipulates rules necessary to smoothly source healthcare workers, to improve working conditions and benefits, and to produce highly qualified talents. 

The Act is a very just law in a sense that it meets the needs of labor respect and patients’ safety. The KHMU will continue to work hard to set up a healthcare labor standard, based on the Act.

 ■ Major Items in the Healthcare Personnel Support Act

○ (Comprehensive Plan Set-up) The Minister of Health and Welfare shall set up a comprehensive plan on healthcare personnel every five years in order to ensure a sufficient number of human resources and improved working conditions. The Minister, heads of concerned governmental organizations, governors of provinces shall establish and implement their plans, which follow the comprehensive plan set at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

○ (Survey on Actual Conditions) The Minister of Health and Welfare shall conduct a survey every 3 years in order to figure out the actual working conditions and nature of the jobs in the healthcare sector while informing the survey results to the policy deliberation committee followed by public announcement.

○ (The Policy Deliberation Committee on Healthcare Personnel) The Policy Deliberation Committee on Healthcare Personnel shall be constituted with less than 25 members to deliberate major policies and it will be run under the Minister’s Office of Health and Welfare.

○ (Healthcare Personnel Supply Management) The Minister of Health and Welfare shall set up and implement policies and actions to meet the adequate number of personnel

○ (Human Resource Development and Quality Improvement) The central government and municipalities may provide necessary support to the healthcare talents training and education centers’ practicum or job training programs. The Minister of Health and Welfare may also provide trainings and education to healthcare workers when necessary in order to build capacity of workers and improve quality of medical techniques.

○ (Healthcare Personnel Securement) The Minister of Health and Welfare may run projects supporting to ease career-interruption and for reemployment, to increase the successive years of work, to secure healthcare workers for public health organizations and the areas where healthcare services are less available.

○ (Human Rights Protection) The central government shall endeavor to create an environment protecting human rights of healthcare workers and raise awareness on human rights. Heads of healthcare organizations shall comply with human rights guidelines to prevent human rights violations including verbal and physical abuses and sexual harassment.

○ (Counsel Services and Support for Healthcare Workers) The Minister of Health and Welfare may provide counseling services and support to those victims of human rights violations.

○ (Working Condition Improvement) The heads of the central government agencies, municipalities and the healthcare organizations shall endeavor to ensure an adequate level of working hours by securing a sufficient number of workers and to improve working conditions; they may provide support to protect the right to health of healthcare workers who work at nigh shift and ensure workers’ right to choose their working conditions; and they shall endeavor to protect and ensure such rights.

○(Survey and Research) The Minister of Health and Welfare may conduct research and surveys for efficient support for healthcare workers.

○ (Integrated Information System Set-up and Operation) The Minister of Health and Welfare may set up and operate an integrated information system to figure out the actual conditions and situations of healthcare workers; manage statistics; analyze the supply and demand for manpower; efficiently deal with various data and information necessary for research; digitize recordings and management.

○ (Support Organization Dedicated for Healthcare Personnel) The Minister of Health and Welfare may designate an organization or a group as a dedicated organization supporting healthcare personnel in order to efficiently support healthcare workers.