HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Tuấn Ngọc, director of Bách Niên Thiên Đức Nursing Home, on Wednesday was recognised by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for caring for a Japanese citizen for more than seven years.

From June 2010 to January this year, the centre received and provided free healthcare for an elderly Japanese citizen (whose name was not revealed to respect his privacy).

In 2010, he had a stroke and needed surgery. He was transferred to Bách Niên Thiên Đức Nursing Home, while waiting for the Japan Embassy in Việt Nam to verify his address in the country. At the time, he was too weak to head home. It took seven years for him to regain his health in order to return home.

During the past seven years, despite barriers of language and culture, thanks to the wholehearted care of Ngọc and the centre’s staff, the man recovered well and returned safely to Japan at the end of January.

Before leaving, the Japanese patient was given a health check and accompanied on his flight by a nurse to make sure his health stayed stable until he was hospitalised in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

At the awards ceremony, Japanese Ambassador Kunio Umeda expressed appreciation for Ngọc and his nursing home for the support they offered.

He also stressed the significance of the centre’s cooperation in offering frequent internships for Vietnamese nurses and care worker trainees who are qualified to go to work in Japan as part of the Economic Agreement Partnership (EPA) between Việt Nam and Japan.

Ngọc said that the award was a great honour for himself and the nursing centre.

At present Bách Niên Thiên Đức is home to more than 300 elderly people, of which 20 are receiving free healthcare and life support.

“Taking care of elderly people is a new service in Việt Nam. However, money is not our only motivation. We take human compassion as the priority in doing this job,” Ngọc said.

According to the Japanese Embassy, in March, Vietnamese nurse and care worker candidates went to Japan under the framework of the EPA programme. The passing rate was 93.7 per cent at the first examination.

The report of Elderly Care Work and Migration: East and Southeast Asian Contexts released by the United Nations in 2017 showed that Japan accepts up to 1,000 foreign nurses and care workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Việt Nam per year through the EPA. — VNS