Illustrative image (Source: VNA) hospitals in face as they provide
service for local patients as well as those from other provinces.
outside the city now account for some 60 percent, according
to HCM City’s Health Department.
Statistics from the
department showed that hospitals across the city have received 41.9 million
people for check-ups and treatment in 2017, accounting for 25.8 percent of the
total number of patients nationwide.
Such specialised facilities
as cardiovascular, oncology, obstetrics and paediatrics treatment attract the
majority of patients.
The department attributed
the high number of clients to the fact that the city’s hospitals have mastered
advanced techniques and worked to improve the quality of health care service. A
new regulation which allows insurance card holders to go to any clinic or
hospital also explains the high number of patients, it said.
Doctors in big cities
like HCM City often have to work under stressful conditions and
wages are relatively low given the demands of the job, experts said.
The Ministry of Health will
soon issue a circular focused on reducing the doctors’ patient load to 50
people maximum per day, compared with hundreds of patients who seek
check-ups now.
To mitigate overcrowding of
, the department would give priority to investment in the development
of outpatient departments to ensure that facilities and human resources can
meet patients’ demand, said a representative from the city’s health department.
It planned to build more
hospitals and strengthen coordination with private health clinics as well as
enhance the quality of health care centres at grassroots level.
Apart from expanding the
family doctor model, the department will continue to develop more satellite
hospitals as a way to help the city effectively solve overcrowding at city’s
hospitals, he said.
In related news, the
patient satisfaction at hospitals in HCM City has increased
considerably over the past eight months, the health department said.
Specifically, only 6,166
patients felt discontent with services in hospitals in December while the
number was 15,466 in May last year.
The department implemented
a system to evaluate patients’ satisfaction at 53 public hospitals in May last
year.
Under the system, patients
will be able to access an e-survey which covers questions on 15 kinds of
services in hospitals, such as registration for health checks, registration to
use health insurance, payment of hospital fees, treatment of caregivers,
attitude and communication of hospital staff, quality of toilets and quality of
vehicle parking service.
Based on e-survey results,
hospitals would take steps to improve their shortcomings and pay more attention
to patient satisfaction, enhancing health care service quality.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
