Patients are treated at Emergency Department in Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City (Source: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh
City’s Department of Health has instructed general hospitals to improve
in an aim to reduce overcrowding at Cho Ray Hospital.
These
so-called first-category hospitals are health facilities with highly
professional staff, specialised departments and modern medical equipment and
facilities.
The
hospitals include Gia Dinh People’s Hospital, Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, 115
People Hospital and Trung Vuong Hospital, among others.
The
hospitals have been told to develop specialised treatment for serious burns,
multiple organ failure and snake bites.
Last
year, general hospitals were required to set up one ward for treatment of
stroke, as required by the Health Ministry.
Patients
with serious diseases and conditions needing emergency aid are often brought to
from province- or district-level hospitals in the city and
other southern provinces.
At
a meeting held last week to review medical treatment in the first quarter, Dr
Pham Thi Ngoc Thao, Deputy Director of Cho Ray Hospital, said the hospital
treated 28,000 patients with emergency aid in the first quarter, including
14,455 from the city’s district-level hospitals.
During
holidays or Lunar New Year (Tet), the hospital’s emergency aid
department was overcrowded, Thao said. The department has the capacity to
perform 150 surgeries a day, but around 30 patients usually have to wait
because of overcrowding.
Many
of them wait for up to 12 hours, but still cannot be served, she said, adding
that the risk was too high for some patients.
Of
district-level hospitals, Cu Chi District Hospital has the highest number of
patients transferred to Cho Ray Hospital, according to the Department of Health.
Dr
Ho Hai Truong Giang, Director of Cu Chi District Hospital, said that patients
taken to Cho Ray Hospital had serious brain injuries or coronary problems that
cannot be treated by doctors at his hospital.
He
said that relatives often ask doctors to transfer the patient to Cho Ray
Hospital because they trust the doctors there.
Cho Ray
Hospital’s doctors, however, have told Cu Chi District Hospital not to transfer
patients.
In
a related matter, Deputy Director of the Department of Health, Tang
Chi Thuong, said that HCM City Orthopaedics and Trauma Hospital should develop
a ward for brain injuries.
In
addition, hospitals, especially district-level, should co-operate with
higher-level hospitals to carry out emergency aid called Red Alerts to avoid
transfers.
In
the procedure, emergency ward doctors can evaluate the patient’s condition and
then activate a Red Alert to seek help from doctors at another hospital, he
said.
Doctors
at Cho Ray Hospital and University Medical Centre are ready to provide
assistance for doctors at lower-level hospitals, Thuong said.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
