About 40 percent of Japanese medical institutions accepting hospitalizations of children ask family members to stay around the clock with them in certain circumstances, a government survey showed Friday 12th April. According to the results of the survey released by the Children and Families Agency, over 60 pct of surveyed institutions have family caregivers stay with hospitalized children in at least 75 pct of cases.
There were 7,637,967 ambulance dispatches in Japan in 2023, the highest figure since comparable data became available in 1963, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a preliminary report Friday. From the previous year, ambulance dispatches increased 5.6 pct. The agency also said a record 6,639,959 people, up 6.8 pct, were transported by ambulance. Of them, probable sufferers of acute illnesses, such as COVID-19, accounted for 67.7 pct, far exceeding those inflicted “general” injuries, at 15.9 pct, and those involved in traffic accidents, at 5.4 pct.
A Japanese government advisory panel Wednesday proposed hikes in hospital visit fees paid by outpatients for their initial and follow-up medical examinations, in order to increase salaries of health care workers.
For the year starting in April, Japan will revise fees for the three care-related services covered by public insurance–the medical and elderly care services and the welfare service for people with disabilities–together for the first time in six years.
Many hospitals in Japan have experienced difficulties dealing with cancer patients with dementia, a survey by the Japan Cancer Society showed Saturday.
The survey was carried out in April-June 2023 for 451 hospitals designated by the health minister to provide high-quality treatment to cancer patients, with 256 of them, or 57 pct, giving responses.
About 20 pct of doctors at hospitals in Japan are believed to be working overtime for more than 960 hours a year, equivalent to the 80-hours-per-month threshold for being at risk of death from overwork, a survey by a health ministry research team found.
As the hospital became unable to provide dialysis and other medical care, patients were temporarily transferred to a nearby hospital.
With electricity and water supplies remaining unavailable as of Tuesday, Tanushimaru Central Hospital is operating medical equipment using an emergency power system. On Tuesday, all hospital staff and volunteers worked to remove the floodwater and mud.
The Japanese government on Friday adopted a roadmap for launching a system to allow hospitals and pharmacies across the country to share electronic medical records by 2030. Japan has been slow to digitalize its medical sector, which was exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country now aims to es
In January this year, a woman who lives in Ota Ward, Tokyo, who has cerebral palsy, a speech impediment palsy and uses home visiting care contracted a new variant of the coronavirus and requested to be admitted to a metropolitan hospital, but was refused.
The weekly number of cases in Japan in which ambulance crews could not soon find hospitals to transport emergency patients has hit a record high for the fourth consecutive week, government data showed Tuesday. The result came as COVID-19 infections are continuing to spread in the country, putting a burden on the medical care system.
The Japanese government adopted at a cabinet meeting on Friday 7th October bills partly aimed at obliging large hospitals in the country to keep providing medical services even if patients surge in times of epidemics.
Barrier Free Japan