Overloading hinders attitude improvements of health workers
Vietnam's four largest hospitals - Bach Mai, Viet Duc, Cancer, and Pediatrics - have signed a joint commitment to improve services, including the attitude of their staff towards patients, but changes will take time to be brought into action.
Changes have been seen at these hospitals following the commitment.
Doctors is examining a patient in Bach Mai General Hospital.
Nguyen Minh Duc, from Ninh Binh Province, who came to Bach Mai General Hospital on July 15 to have a tumor on his neck reexamined, said he was surprised by the warm welcome of the staff."Even the guard was more polite and helpful," Duc said. "Everywhere they say hello and ask if they could help. They seem different from my last time here a month ago."
But Duc said the large number of patients and their many questions and problems still make the doctors and nurses tired and lose their tempers.
At Bach Mai General Hospital on July 15, a large number of patients had to wait for ultrasounds and tests.
Le Thi Rieng, 58, from Quang Ninh Province said she travelled 200km through the night and arrived at the hospital at 3am.
"I know this hospital is very crowded so I came early," Rieng said. "Even so, 390 people had arrived ealier than me."
A doctor at the Emergency Ward said that it would take time for change to happen.
"Our hospital is always over-loaded and patients should be sympathetic when we don't have time to say hello and smile," the doctor said.
Overloaded and inedaquate facilities also make it difficult for the Cancer, Viet Duc and Paediatrics hospitals in follow their commitment.
The Cancer Hospital is receiving more and more patients in recent years while its facilities have not been upgraded for a long time.At the Internal Medicine Ward No. 2, Ngo Xuan K, 50, from Nam Dinh Province said he rents a room near the hospital during his treatment, because waiting rooms were too crowded.
"We are not pleased yet with the treatment condition here," K said. "Doctors and nurses are not so rude as some people say, but they don't have a thoughtful attitude like those at private hospitals."
Bui Dieu, director of the Cancer Hospital, said inadequate facilities was the biggest challenge for change. "We will improve gradually," Dieu said. "But will begin with our behaviour."
Nguyen Quoc Anh, director of Bach Mai Hospital, said it would try to upgrade facilities and improve the attitude of staff, it would all take time.
"The health of our patients is our top priority," Anh said. "That's why we are having more patients coming to us. Although there are still complaints about our service and behaviour, I commit that things will be improved soon. We are training our staff on appropriate behaviour towards patients, and we will put into use a new 21-storey building by the end of this year to ease the overloading."
Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien told the conference where the four hospitals signed the commitment on July 14 that some healthcare workers still did not follow proper protocols and had an inappropriate or negative attitude towards patients.
"A code of conduct for health workers, which will be introduced in the healthcare system from the central to the local levels, provides rules of conduct for medical staff towards patients during examination and treatment," Tien said.
The health minister asked all health workers and staff to overcome difficulties and be determined to improve their image.
Tien said health ministry statistics show the ministry's hotline received more than 8,400 calls in the first half of this year. Of those, 388 were complaints about inappropriate behaviour of health workers at medical facilities, or 12 per cent of total calls, down from 19 per cent in the same period last year.
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