The program: millions of shekels for the shortage of therapeutic professionals Israel today

The government is expected to approve this morning a government plan to address the shortage of physiotherapists, communication clinicians and occupational therapists.

This is an immediate addition of treatment hours using a basket of incentives amounting to tens of millions of shekels.

The decision will help thousands of children in Israel.

Thousands of practitioners in these professions are currently missing, with children who are not in special education failing to receive treatment within the educational framework and waiting times for treatment at long-term funds.

Public institutions in the health system, in the education system and in the local authorities have difficulty in providing the required range of treatments.

There is already a shortage of 1,878 physiotherapists, 2,177 communication clinicians and 2,560 occupational therapists, while the current gaps are expected to increase in the coming years, particularly in the field of occupational therapy.

The plan will include the establishment of a team headed by the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office and in partnership with the Directors General of the Ministries of Health, Education and Welfare, the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance and the Council for Higher Education.

The team will establish an incentive program to encourage employment in the public sector, because today a large proportion of those engaged in the health professions prefer to work in the private sector.

According to the plan, the Ministry of Education will formulate within two months a plan to encourage the entry of caregivers from these fields to work in the educational institutions.

Already today there is a shortage of thousands of therapists in communication clinics, occupational therapy and physiotherapy which leads to very long waiting queues, especially in the field of child development.

Falling between the chairs

In a discussion held at the Health Committee about two months ago, it was explained that children who are not in special education frameworks are unable to receive treatments from the field of child development and are referred to the health funds, where they do not always receive an available and comprehensive answer.

A representative of the ALU said at the hearing: "Financial incentives for caregivers to move from the private sector to the public sector, but in fact led to the depletion of caregivers from the educational frameworks, both from rehabilitation day care centers and from communication kindergartens.

"In the end, a child does not get a communication clinician because his caregiver has moved to a health fund, and the mother applies to the fund to get a clinician, but she replies that the child is not eligible because he is already receiving health care in the education system, even though he is not."

The director of the child development unit in Lod said at the hearing: "In Clalit alone, I have 120 waiting in the field of communication clinics, and only 10 hours a week as a clinician. If a patient needs one series, it is four months, and if he needs a second series, it is eight months. ? "

MK Idit Silman, chair of the coalition and chairman of the health committee, said:

This will lead to a reduction in queues, and to more professional and optimal care for the residents of Israel who need it. "

MK Lahav Herzno added: "After a long struggle I led, I am happy to bring about a historic correction in the scope of paramedical treatments, treatments that give children with special needs the ability to develop, grow and realize their lives.

It is a life-changing decision for thousands of children. "

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us