Lack of medical supplies

“We have to go for blood tests outside, wait for the results to be brought back to the hospital, and then we have to prepare the medicine, syringes, needles, adhesive tape… for the doctors to treat us. It’s a lot of trouble…”, many patients being treated at the Provincial General Hospital confided.

Patient suffering

Mr. Nguyen Van H (Ham Chinh commune, Ham Thuan Bac district) went to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. After the examination, the doctor asked him to be hospitalized for intestinal surgery. He said: Before the surgery, he had to do a blood test, but the medical staff asked him to take the sample to a private testing facility on Pham Ngoc Thach street (Phan Thiet city) to pay and do the test, and wait for the results. "I went to the clinic without any family members, so I had to call my younger brother to come down and help. Moreover, I have a health insurance card, but when I went to the private lab, I still had to pay," Mr. H shared.

Not only that, Mr. H added that when the surgery was over and it was time to administer fluids and medication, the medical staff asked him to prepare syringes with the excuse that "medical supplies were out". Therefore, he had to ask his family to buy dozens of syringes.

With a child being treated at the General Surgery Department, Ms. Hoang Thi Anh Hong (Ham Hiep commune, Ham Thuan Bac district) also encountered many difficulties when the hospital "ran out" of medical supplies. "Just yesterday, the nurses asked me to go buy a catheter to give antibiotics to my child. Not only that, we also had to equip ourselves with adhesive bandages to cover the wound. There are so many things that seem inadequate," Ms. Hong said.

According to Ms. Hong, the above supplies are not available in the hospital, but most grocery stores in front of the hospital gate have a lot. “Seeing me struggling to find the pharmacy, they asked me what to buy? I said needles and tape. They said they had everything here, everything. Then they said needles were 10,000 VND each, tape was 25,000 VND per roll. I said: Why are they so expensive? They said, then go to the pharmacy to buy them. Thinking that I didn’t have a vehicle to get around, I had to buy them,” Ms. Hong said.

Indeed, the recent shortage of medical supplies and medicines in the country in general and in the province in particular is making many patients more miserable and suffering than ever, especially poor patients and those in difficult circumstances.

Difficult hospital

The shortage of medical supplies in hospitals has caused many consequences in the treatment and health care of patients. This problem is no longer localized, in a few hospitals, but is encountered in almost all provincial and district hospitals and has lasted for nearly 2 years.

Many nurses I know feel very tired when many patients do not understand, do not sympathize and react very strongly. “Every day, explaining about the shortage of medical supplies to patients takes up a lot of our time. It is also very embarrassing to have to ask patients to buy this and that to serve the treatment, especially for patients in difficult circumstances. Therefore, many times we have to borrow or ask from other patients to help them. Thinking back, we are helpless,” a nurse at the Provincial General Hospital shared.

Many experienced and reputable doctors in the profession also said that in many cases, patients had to be transferred to other hospitals not because they could not be treated, but because they were helpless because of the lack of supplies, spare parts, and chemicals to serve the treatment of patients. When explaining to patients, they often felt uncomfortable: "Regulations on purchasing medical supplies have always existed, why are they only now showing difficulties and difficulties in implementation?". "We ourselves do not want that. We are waiting for immediate policies to improve the current shortage of drugs, chemicals, and supplies in public hospitals. Because if this situation continues, the disadvantages will not only be pushed to the patients, but we ourselves will also feel heartbroken and have to stand by and watch because of the lack of everything to serve patients...", this doctor added.

A leader of the Provincial General Hospital said that the Government has issued Decree 07 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 98/2021/ND-CP dated November 8, 2021 on the management of medical equipment to address the shortcomings, limitations and inadequacies that have arisen in the recent past. "In the field of medical equipment, there is a decree but we still have to wait for circulars and instructions to implement it. We have money but we cannot buy or bid," said this leader.

“A hundred mulberry trees fall on the silkworm’s head”, all difficulties are falling on the patients. More than ever, the functional sectors, units and individuals with authority need to quickly fulfill their responsibilities to be able to purchase medicines, medical equipment and supplies to serve the treatment of patients. At this time, we really need cadres who dare to serve the people, dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility and dare to promptly reflect and propose solutions to difficulties and problems. Only then will patients no longer face the difficulties they face today.

Medical supplies is a general concept, including: Disposable consumables (such as gloves, IV lines, breathing tubes, syringes, medicine containers, etc.); Medical instruments (such as stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors, thermometers for medical examination; surgical knives, scissors, forceps, surgical needles, etc. or endoscopes); chemicals and biological testing products.

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