Hospitals are struggling to find sufficient numbers of male assistants, particularly as Tet nears.

Prices for hiring male assistants have risen sharply as Tet nears

Mrs. Xuan who is looking for a man to take care of her father-in-law staying at Vietnam National Institute of Gerontology in Hanoi said the number of people gathering at Huu Nghi, Viet Duc and Bach Mai Hospitals to work as patient assistants had sharply decreased because many of them have left to return home for Tet.

Last year, she hired a woman to care for her father-in-law, but it didn’t work out. After failing to find a substitute, Mrs. Xuan and her husband had to come to hospital for look after her father-in-law in turn.

“We had to go to hospital and then return home to welcome guests. It was very tiring,” Xuan said.

Prices for hiring male assistants have risen sharply as Tet nears, she added.

Mrs. Bich in Tran Xuan Soan Street, Hanoi, is also in the same situation. Her father-in-law will have an eye operation in the coming days and he insisted on hiring a man to take care of him. A relative of hers introduced Xuan to a person who asked for a very high fee.

Deposits

Taking care of a patient at hospitals usually costs VND220,000-250,000 per day and the figure increases to VND600,000-700,000 during Tet. However, it is not easy for many families to find people willing to work.

With the support from several women specialising in caring for patients at hospitals, Mrs. Xuan contacted a middle-aged man from Thai Binh Province. He has worked as an assistant for patients for two years.

She had to pay him VND750,000 for the first three days of lunar January and offered him two meals per day. She also had to photocopy her identity card and deposit VND500,000 to retain him, Xuan disclosed.

From the fourth day, the price was reduced to VND500,000 per day, and then charges would drop to VND200,000-250,000 from the eighth day.