​Overcrowding strains HCM City hospitals, doctors

Many hospitals in HCM City face chronic overcrowding as they provide service for local patients as well as those from other provinces.
​Overcrowding strains HCM City hospitals, doctors ảnh 1Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 
HCM City (VNA) - Manyhospitals in Ho Chi Minh City face chronic overcrowding as they provideservice for local patients as well as those from other provinces.
Patients fromoutside the city now account for some 60 percent, accordingto HCM City’s Health Department.

Statistics from thedepartment showed that hospitals across the city have received 41.9 millionpeople for check-ups and treatment in 2017, accounting for 25.8 percent of thetotal number of patients nationwide.

Such specialised facilitiesas cardiovascular, oncology, obstetrics and paediatrics treatment attract themajority of patients.

The department attributedthe high number of clients to the fact that the city’s hospitals have masteredadvanced techniques and worked to improve the quality of health care service. Anew regulation which allows insurance card holders to go to any clinic orhospital also explains the high number of patients, it said.

Doctors in big citieslike HCM City often have to work under stressful conditions andwages are relatively low given the demands of the job, experts said.

The Ministry of Health willsoon issue a circular focused on reducing the doctors’ patient load to 50people maximum per day, compared with hundreds of patients who seekcheck-ups now.

To mitigate overcrowding ofhospitals, the department would give priority to investment in the developmentof outpatient departments to ensure that facilities and human resources canmeet patients’ demand, said a representative from the city’s health department.

It planned to build morehospitals and strengthen coordination with private health clinics as well asenhance the quality of health care centres at grassroots level.

Apart from expanding thefamily doctor model, the department will continue to develop more satellitehospitals as a way to help the city effectively solve overcrowding at city’shospitals, he said.

In related news, thepatient satisfaction at hospitals in HCM City has increasedconsiderably over the past eight months, the health department said.

Specifically, only 6,166patients felt discontent with services in hospitals in December while thenumber was 15,466 in May last year.

The department implementeda system to evaluate patients’ satisfaction at 53 public hospitals in May lastyear.

Under the system, patientswill be able to access an e-survey which covers questions on 15 kinds ofservices in hospitals, such as registration for health checks, registration touse health insurance, payment of hospital fees, treatment of caregivers,attitude and communication of hospital staff, quality of toilets and quality ofvehicle parking service.

Based on e-survey results,hospitals would take steps to improve their shortcomings and pay more attentionto patient satisfaction, enhancing health care service quality.-VNA
VNA

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