Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has worked with leaders of HCM City in order to lessen the overload at major hospitals.
Overcrowding problem at major hospitals in HCM City
HCM City has a population of over 10 million but only has 112 hospitals, which can provide around 32,000 beds. However, many patients from neighbouring provinces also come to the city for treatment, adding to the overcrowding.
Sometimes, patients in HCM City Oncology Hospital have to lie under the beds because the bed capacity reaches up to 247%. HCM City Hospital of Traumatic and Orthopaedics is also overcrowded with 140% bed capacity and Children's Hospital 1 with 127% bed capacity.
HCM City Oncology Hospital has the most serious overload
HCM City has implemented various measures to ease the overload, such as sending more doctors to district-level hospitals and setting up satellite hospitals. Improved medical training and facility improvements for ward and district-level hospitals were also discussed.
Currently, the satellite hospitals specialising in pediatrics and oncology are being built across the city. It is hoped that the satellite hospitals will be completed in 2015 and put an end to the overload.
At the meeting, the PM emphasised increasing medical demand. According to the PM, the overload caused by uneven investment and development of equipment and doctor skills at medical facilities.
PM Nguyen Tan Dung and the secretary of HCM City Party Committee Le Thanh Hai
"To ease the overload, we have to provide higher quality services and improve the hospitals in rural areas to match the central hospitals." he said. "Adding 1,000 more beds would not be as effective as improving medical training and equipment. Currently, we need to focus investment to satellite hospitals for pediatrics, oncology and cardiovascular."
The government approved a plan to reduce hospital overload in the period from 2013 to 2020. The scheme aims to improve medical care, raise bed capacity in hospitals in the outskirts and rural areas by 60% in 2015 and 80% by 2020. Major hospitals in both Hanoi and HCM City will also be given 7,150 more beds.
