National Assembly delegates of Nghe An province frankly questioned the Minister of Health

(Baonghean.vn) - The questions from the National Assembly delegation of Nghe An province to the Minister of Health focused on issues such as reducing overload, hospital autonomy, and health insurance.

Speaking at the question and answer session, Colonel Nguyen Huu Cau, Director of the Provincial Police Department, representing the National Assembly delegation of Nghe An, said: “I met with voters who are doctors in and out of the public sector and they were very upset because the health insurance sector sent appraisers who were not doctors and had no medical knowledge to appraise health insurance, cutting whoever they wanted, cutting them hard. Doctors were upset, patients were disadvantaged, and medical facility owners were upset and carried out the procedures, threatening to cut health insurance if they did not comply.”

National Assembly delegates from Nghe An province question the Minister of Health. Photo: Contributor

The delegates suggested that the Ministry of Health and Social Insurance need to issue a national standard toolkit, publicly for implementation, and there can be no request for health insurance assessors as in the recent past.

In response to the Minister of Health's question about the loss and waste of medical equipment, delegate Nguyen Huu Cau studied the audit report and found: "There are lists of purchases that are 400%-715% higher than market prices and health insurance prices. I request the Minister of Health to provide an explanation when he does not accept the audit results as he answered before the National Assembly on the morning of June 14."

Quoting report No. 650 dated June 9, 2017 of the Minister of Health sent to the National Assembly Deputies stating: "strive for the goal of no more hospital overload by 2020", Delegate Cau asked whether the Minister has any commitments or any breakthrough solutions to realize the above goal.

Questioning the “commander” of the health sector, delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien (Nghe An delegation) raised the issue of hospital autonomy - a policy that the Ministry of Health is implementing to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment. Mr. Hien said that this is a new issue that voters are interested in and asked the Minister of Health to clarify the roadmap and implementation methods in the coming time.

In response to some opinions from delegates about the limitations in the process of medical examination and treatment at private hospitals, delegate Hien expressed the view that the establishment of private hospitals helps to "reduce the load" on the public hospital system, and at the same time questioned the Ministry of Health about what policies to encourage private hospitals to develop quality.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien answers questions at the meeting hall. Photo: quochoi.vn/Dinh Nam

Responding to the opinion of delegate Cau, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that there will be a document on the audit results to clarify the results that the health sector does not completely agree with the audit agency. "If there are any mistakes, we will definitely handle them strictly," Minister Tien emphasized.

Regarding the issue of reducing hospital overload, Minister Tien affirmed that the health sector is implementing the reduction according to the project approved by the Government, and on schedule by 2020, the overload situation in hospitals will be basically reduced.

The head of the Vietnamese health sector also added that socialization and public-private partnership are major policies of the Party and State to mobilize all resources, and the Ministry of Health is preparing to issue a circular to guide implementation. "This issue is still new, some places have implemented it but there are many problems. However, the principle of the health sector is not to equitize public hospitals and must clearly account for public-private partnerships, ownership issues and financial mechanisms," Ms. Tien said, emphasizing that although it may face more difficulties than other sectors, the health sector will soon apply the public-private partnership mechanism.

Reporter - Contributor Group