Several National Assembly (NA) deputies agreed that healthcare staff working for the state should not be allowed to open private hospitals or clinics.

Dao Trong Thi said if state health staff were permitted to establish private hospitals, they may make use of time and equipment that should be spent working in state healthcare establishments to serve their own facilities.

He also agreed with the provision that allows them to participate in medical checkups and treatment at private establishments, he added.

Deputy Nguyen Pham Y Nhi said the draft regulation will help “deal with the shortage of human resources in the health sector, and help doctors increase their income in an legitimate manner.”

Vietnam has on average 6.5 doctors for every 10,000 people, but the distribution of healthcare staff among localities is very uneven, she said. In big cities, there are 8-9 doctors for every 10,000 residents, while the rate in the southern Mekong Delta is 2.1 doctors.

According to the draft medical law being considered at the NA’s ongoing session, state cadres in the health sector are prohibited from establishing, or participating in the establishment or management of private hospitals. However, they are allowed to participate in treating patients at private hospitals as extra work.

Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong said while the prohibition was necessary, allowing state healthcare staff to work in private establishments would help augment their income with the higher salaries offered by the latter.

She said that their incomes must be raised in order to encourage them to work in the state healthcare sector to serve the community.

License to practice

Deputy Ngo Thi Doan Thanh said common criteria should be established for granting medical licenses to doctors in both state and private health establishments. All certification issued by the Health Ministry, or health departments of localities should have the same value nationwide, she said.

“The regulation that certificates issued by the ministry allow their holders to work nationwide, while those issued by local (health) departments allow their holders to practice only in areas under their administration, is unfair. It is necessary to unify the licensing process nationwide under a common law and delegate authority to localities to grant the certificates.”

According to the draft law, certificates granted by health ministers are valid nationwide, while those granted by heads of health departments of provinces are valid only in the specific localities.

Agreeing with Thanh, deputy Huong said the fact that a doctor who receives a medical license from Ha Nam Province cannot do his job in Hanoi is irrational. He proposed that the Health Ministry grant authorization to issue the license to local health departments in order to ease procedural delays and problems.

Some delegates also proposed that medical ethics should be used as criteria in granting the licenses, saying it would contribute to increasing the quality of medical check-ups and treatment.

Society as a whole is concerned about the responsibility of healthcare personnel, Nguyen Minh Ha said, noting that several patients had died due to mistakes or unethical behavior by medical staff.

Thanh said there have been several public complaints about healthcare personnel, not only in state establishments, but also private ones. Adherence to medical ethics should be considered in granting licenses to practice, he said.

Trinh Thi Nga said many people are dissatisfied with the lack of ethics among some doctors, and the quality of treatment provided under the health insurance regime.

It should be a legal stipulation that healthcare is provided equally to all, Ha said, noting that discrimination against HIV-infected people was still happening in many health establishments.

Reported by Bao Van