Hospital director held responsible if drug shortages are blamed on policy

"Keep blaming the people for making them suffer"

At the conference on hospital management in the reform period, organized by Bach Mai Hospital today, September 24, in Hanoi , Minister Dao Hong Lan assessed that in many hospitals, the number of people coming for medical examination and treatment has increased very high, requiring hospital directors to ensure enough human resources, supplies, and medicine for medical examination and treatment, making patients satisfied.

The Minister of Health noted that the bidding mechanism for purchasing drugs, medical equipment and supplies is complete. Any unit that says there is a shortage of drugs due to policy mechanisms must take full responsibility.

Citing Bach Mai Hospital, which had 10,000 people come for medical examination in one day (September 23), Ms. Lan said that the need to change and review the arrangement of procedures and regulations for organizing medical examination and treatment is very necessary.

Regarding bidding for the purchase of drugs and medical supplies, Ms. Lan affirmed that the current bidding mechanism for the purchase of drugs, medical supplies and equipment is complete. Any unit that says that the shortage of drugs is due to policy mechanisms and hospital leaders must take full responsibility.

"It is not possible to say what is missing, but if it is the organization that is implementing it, then this is the director's responsibility. If there are any problems, we must discuss them immediately," Minister Lan requested.

According to Ms. Lan, internal units must agree and act in accordance with the law. "If any comrade keeps disrupting, the Party Committee must take action. If necessary, report to the ministry and local authorities, if it is local," Ms. Lan noted, pointing out that there are things, such as the blood shortage in the locality, the cause is because "we do not do our job, but keep blaming this or that."

"Keep blaming others and making people suffer. This problem must be dealt with resolutely," the Minister of Health emphasized.

Proposal for medical equipment price management

The Ministry of Health said there are 6 ways to determine the price of medical supplies and equipment to be purchased, through the results of open bidding.

PHOTO: BACH MAI HOSPITAL

Sharing on the sidelines of the conference, Director of Bach Mai Hospital Dao Xuan Co acknowledged that basically the bidding problems have been resolved, but hospitals are still concerned about determining the price of medical equipment, because they cannot know the CIF price (import price to Vietnam - PV).

"Therefore, when suppliers quote, we cannot know whether the price they offer is appropriate, or whether the price has been unreasonably inflated," said Mr. Co.

In response to the above concerns, Mr. Hoang Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Health, said that current regulations have guided 6 ways to determine the package price, determine the price of materials and equipment to be purchased, through the results of open bidding, all of which have been made public on the national bidding network.

"Hospitals can access the national bidding network to look up the winning bid prices of other investors and other hospitals. These are relatively accurate reflections of market prices, so we can base our planning prices on them for hospital procurement packages," said Mr. Cuong.

Mr. Cuong also noted that hospitals should not over-apply small procurement packages to avoid the risk of "circumventing the law" to appoint contractors.

More than 600 delegates, including hospital directors, leaders of northern health departments, and representatives of management agencies, attended the conference on hospital management in the renovation period.

The Director of Bach Mai Hospital said that hospitals have gradually improved the quality of medical services.

With the goal of "taking the patient as the center", aiming for satisfaction, safety and the best quality of medical services for patients, the delegates shared experiences and organizational work on hospital management issues, improving the quality of medical services.

Associate Professor - Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that hospitals have gradually improved service quality, invested in upgrading infrastructure, applied information technology in handling administrative procedures, and applied high technology in developing human resources, helping to improve the quality of diagnosis, treatment and patient care.

The cooperation, professional support and connection in medical examination and treatment activities between central and local hospitals have made many advances, helping to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, reduce waiting time and limit inconvenience to patients.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giam-doc-benh-vien-chiu-trach-nhiem-neu-do-loi-thieu-thuoc-do-chinh-sach-185240924164723886.htm