Patients sleep on the floor at overcrowded hospital

Bach Mai Hospital, one of Vietnam's major hospitals, is often overloaded because patients have lost faith with the quality of communal and district hospitals and bypass them.

Bach Mai Hospital, one of Vietnam's major hospitals, is often overloaded because patients have lost faith with the quality of communal and district hospitals and bypass them.

Even though Bach Mai Hospital has adjusted their health check-up routines recently, it still can't cope with the huge number of patients daily. Some patients have to wait for the whole day to get examined so it's not unusual to see people lying around on the floor, waiting their turn.

68-year-old Tran Ba Hao from Vinh Phuc Province said he arrived at the hospital at 5 am and luckily, he was called soon. But he had to wait until 2 pm for the results. Hao decided to eat and rest in a hospital hall.

The number of patients sleeping in the hospital’s hallways at noon is so high and some people even sell plastic sheeting for them to lie on.

Some photos of the patients waiting for their turn at the Bach Mai Hospital on June 30:

   

The crowd at the consultancy desks at 8 am

People wait to get their patient numbers

Tran Ba Hao takes out some food and eats in the hospital hall

Waiting for the next tests

  

Sleeping inside the hospital hallways at noon.