Lengthy hospital waits are of most concern
Print Edition
HAVING to wait a long time is the issue that concerns most people at local hospital outpatient departments. Over half of patients in a survey said they spent at least two hours at each hospital visit, with longer waits at leading hospitals.
Dirty toilets and high medical bills were other leading issues with many outpatients, while food and medical bills were of most concern to those having to stay in hospital.
The Shanghai Medical Ethos Association conducted the survey of 15,892 patients or their families to better understand and improve local health services.
Generally, patients think highly of health services in the city and those questioned were most satisfied with issues such as doctors keeping appointments on time, privacy protection during check-ups and treatment, clear signs inside hospitals and answers to patients’ questions that could be easily understood.
For patients in hospital, doctors’ daily rounds, nurses’ quick responses and their good attitude, and privacy protection were praised.
“We found issues that hospitals can make progress to further meet patients’ demand such as promoting the reservation of outpatient services and reducing patients’ waiting time,” said Fan Guanrong, director of the association. “We found patients with shorter waiting times give higher marks in general. The waiting times and long-term stays in hospital are important issues influencing patients’ satisfaction.”
The survey found that about 30 percent of outpatient services were reserved and city-level hospitals had a higher reservation rate than district-level hospitals and neighborhood health centers. As high as 67 percent of return visits are booked through on-site reservation, websites and phone apps.
“Reservation service and a classified service system are important to improve efficiency of hospitals and give patients better experiences, as 40 percent of patients at city-level hospitals are actually those with chronic and common diseases,” Fan said. “Such patients can visit district-level hospitals and neighborhood health centers with less patients and shorter waiting times.”
Xia Lin, an official from Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, said city-level hospitals have been promoting outpatient reservations and have started to allow patients to reserve different times on the same day to separate patients.
“Once patients register in the system, they can know their number and its turn. Patients can better arrange the waiting time,” she said. “The large number of patients at local leading hospitals is the biggest reason triggering patients’ long waiting times. Only a classified service system can help ease the problem, as patients can visit district-level hospitals and neighborhood health centers for common disease while specialists at leading hospitals give training and guidance to doctors at grassroots to improve their capabilities.”
Xu Jing, the mother of an 11-year-old daughter, said she preferred district-level hospitals when her daughter has a fever or a cold instead of going to a crowded leading hospital.
“We only go to big hospitals for complicated problems,” Xu said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
