TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced Tuesday that enforcement of newly passed nurse-to-patient ratio requirements will begin May 20, 2027, earlier than previously planned by the health ministry.
The opposition-backed amendment, passed Friday, makes violations of nurse-to-patient ratios announced by the health ministry in 2024 subject to fines and other penalties. Previously, the government relied on financial incentives to encourage compliance, per Business Today.
Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said Friday that enforcement would begin May 1, 2028, despite recommendations from healthcare worker groups to start enforcement by Dec. 31, 2027, per Mirror Media. Lai later decided to move forward with phased enforcement beginning in 2027, saying the change was intended to protect healthcare workers’ rights, per UP Media.
Shih’s proposed 2028 timeline, along with remarks suggesting voters should “vote for Lai again” if they feared campaign promises on the staffing rule would not be fulfilled, drew criticism from opposition lawmakers. He also defended the delayed timeline by arguing that hospitals could face unnecessary ward or bed closures if the policy were implemented too quickly, potentially disrupting Taiwan’s healthcare system, per UDN.
TPP Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) said Shih’s comments wrongly blamed staffing regulations for possible bed closures while ignoring chronic understaffing in the healthcare sector, per UDN. Former TPP Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) added that although Lai had pledged to codify nurse-to-patient ratios within two years of taking office, it was the TPP that ultimately pushed the legislation through the chamber, per Newtalk.
The Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation also criticized the government’s framing of the issue, saying potential bed closures reflected longstanding understaffing problems in Taiwan’s healthcare system rather than the staffing rules themselves. It urged the government not to pit patients’ healthcare needs against healthcare workers’ demands for reasonable workloads.
The foundation also called for stronger oversight mechanisms to ensure hospitals comply with staffing requirements. It added that Taiwan’s long-term shortage of healthcare workers remains the central challenge facing the healthcare system.
Shih’s comments regarding Lai also sparked criticism within the ruling DPP. The DPP legislative caucus said the government had already allocated NT$27.5 billion (US$870 million) to encourage compliance with staffing targets through incentives, per ETtoday.
DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) directly criticized Shih, urging him to maintain professionalism while answering lawmakers’ questions during legislative sessions, per Newtalk. Shih apologized Tuesday for his earlier remarks, adding that Lai’s decision to accelerate enforcement made supporting him in the 2028 presidential election “worth considering,” per UDN.
