Quang Ngai public hospitals face shortage of doctors
Many doctors are leaving public hospitals and seeking employment in private hospitals in the central province of Quang Ngai.
Director of the centre Vo Thanh Tan, said that low public healthcare salaries are the main reason for many workers moving to larger or private hospitals.
"Three more doctors left us in 2021 and 2022 while we've been unable to employ new doctors," Tan said. "We've always overloaded with work due to personnel shortages."
According to Tan, it costs a lot to train a doctor but public healthcare facility pay is low, which fails to attract competent doctors.
At the neighbouring district of Tu Nghia, seven doctors have also resigned at the local healthcare centre since 2021.
Director of Tu Nghia Healthcare Centre, Dang Van Diem, said it was experienced doctors who had worked at the centre for a long time that had resigned.
"They left after finding better opportunities with higher incomes at other hospitals," Diem explained. "Due to our limited budget, we don't have a good working environment with modern equipment to attract good doctors."
Statistics showed that public hospitals and healthcare centres in Quang Ngai employed 254 doctors between 2013-2018. These facilities however lost 120 doctors between 2018-2023.
To solve the problems, director of Quang Ngai Provincial Department of Health, Pham Minh Duc, said that the first thing was to invest more in public hospitals in order to raise the quality of treatment.
"We have to try to attract more patients so that we can pay doctors better," the official said. "We're piloting the Required Services Programme at some hospitals which we hope can improve the incomes of local doctors."
Patients wait at a hospital in Quang Ngai Province
Son Tinh District has a total of 170,000 people but has just 29 doctors working at the district's healthcare centre.Director of the centre Vo Thanh Tan, said that low public healthcare salaries are the main reason for many workers moving to larger or private hospitals.
"Three more doctors left us in 2021 and 2022 while we've been unable to employ new doctors," Tan said. "We've always overloaded with work due to personnel shortages."
According to Tan, it costs a lot to train a doctor but public healthcare facility pay is low, which fails to attract competent doctors.
At the neighbouring district of Tu Nghia, seven doctors have also resigned at the local healthcare centre since 2021.
Director of Tu Nghia Healthcare Centre, Dang Van Diem, said it was experienced doctors who had worked at the centre for a long time that had resigned.
"They left after finding better opportunities with higher incomes at other hospitals," Diem explained. "Due to our limited budget, we don't have a good working environment with modern equipment to attract good doctors."
Statistics showed that public hospitals and healthcare centres in Quang Ngai employed 254 doctors between 2013-2018. These facilities however lost 120 doctors between 2018-2023.
To solve the problems, director of Quang Ngai Provincial Department of Health, Pham Minh Duc, said that the first thing was to invest more in public hospitals in order to raise the quality of treatment.
"We have to try to attract more patients so that we can pay doctors better," the official said. "We're piloting the Required Services Programme at some hospitals which we hope can improve the incomes of local doctors."
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