Recently, the "Inter-Ministerial Committee for Examining the Possibility of Change through the Employment of Foreign Nursing Therapists" is active in the Knesset.
The purpose of the committee, whose decisions will affect us all, is to remove the burden of managing caregivers and the financial system from the patient.
The population of senior citizens in Israel is about 1.3 million people, about 275,000 of whom are "entitled to the Nursing Law" and as a result receive treatment provided by companies and nursing associations.
These are the parents, siblings, grandparents of all of us.
In 2006, the government decided to issue employment permits for foreign workers only to those who would employ a foreign worker and register him in a private bureau. Nursing companies and associations moved to employ workers only part-time, while senior citizens, about 30 percent of them unemployed, who had been employees throughout their lives, became employers in their old age and were required to provide full social rights, tamper with forms and bureaucracy, and even look for a replacement. Sick or on vacation. This has become a burden and a complex struggle for them and their families.
The establishment of the committee to change the existing method is the right step in my eyes. However, I was very surprised to hear voices that I feel are unfamiliar with the issue and call for the private bureaus to carry out this task. In my view, this is a mistake. Caring for the elderly requires professional knowledge, manpower and a proven ability to deal with the elderly and employees. The private bureaus today do not do all this, but mainly mediate the arrival of the foreign worker in the country and deal with the renewal of permits and visas. They do not have the tools, experience and ability to handle such a heavy and complicated task, and certainly do not worry about the care sequence in the elderly.
I think there is one solution, and in my opinion it is the only one that can be implemented immediately.
Since the Nursing Law was enacted in Israel, nursing companies and associations have proven themselves as bodies that know how to provide a daily solution for the elderly in Israel.
These are about 120 bodies supervised and audited by the National Insurance Institute, they have a suitable logistics system, professional experience and knowledge and accessible offices.
They employ thousands of nurses and social workers, about 170,000 caregivers, Israeli and foreign, and they are the only ones who can take on what the state requires - without birth defects and without budgetary supplementation.
The current situation must be changed, but it must be done correctly.
And in this case, the economic interests of the state connect with the interests of the elderly, while maintaining the quality of care and the "therapeutic continuum" essential to the elderly.
Sometimes the solution is "under the flashlight" - just need someone to see it.
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