Paediatrics Hospitals 1 and 2 in HCM City are at bursting point, treating over 13,000 children a day.

Crowds at Paediatrics Hospital 2’s pharmacy

All the consulting rooms and sickbeds are full of patients. Doctors have to do their best to treat patients who are already sick in overcrowded conditions.

At the beginning of a week, parents from localities in the surrounding areas often take their children to the hospitals for health checkups or medical treatment, adding to the overcrowding.

Queues for health checkups are often chaotic, with screaming and crying children due to the stuffy atmosphere as they’re carried in their parents’ arms.

“The number of patients is on the rise daily. We have to employ more medical staff but have yet met the rising demand. The overloading has reached its peak at Paediatrics Hospital 2 even though a satellite ward was set up in District 2,” said Doctor Pham Mai Dang, from the hospital.

According to Dang, in order to serve more patients, doctors have to shorten their check-ups from a standard 15 minutes to only three minutes.

Statistics show that Paediatrics Hospital 2 receives nearly 7,000 patients per day. The same situation is recorded at Paediatrics Hospital 1. The demand is currently from 130%-150% higher than capacity, worsening their overloading.

The respiratory ward at Paediatrics Hospital 1 records the most patients as it is providing resident treatment for nearly 300 children per day while its capacity is only for 100.

At Paediatrics Hospital 2, the number of in-patients with respiratory diseases has reached over 300 per day, regardless of patients of other diseases.

Dang attributed the sharp rise in the number of patients to changeable weather conditions which foster the development of seasonal diseases. The risk of disease spreading could be higher at schools.

Medical experts warned that the situation could get worse next month and would be improved in late November at the earliest.

Photos taken from the hospitals:

A few children are lucky enough to get a seat

Waiting area is jam-packed

Medical equipment operating at full capacityệnh nhi mệt lả, bác sĩ quay cuồng vì quá tải 10 6 1