Beijing vows to improve health care for expats
Source: Xinhua |
December 6, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FOREIGNERS joining the trend to explore their opportunities in China's capital have found that seeking treatment in hospitals can be an uncomfortable experience.
Their complaints range from the lack of foreign language speakers among staff at local hospitals to the procedure of seeing a doctor being too complicated.
Now, in a move to coincide with Beijing's aim to become an international metropolis, local authorities have vowed to improve health care for foreigners.
Park, 30, from South Korea, has been a student in Beijing for six years. He said he was shocked at the marathon-style procedure to see a doctor at a Beijing hospital.
"It starts with a time-consuming registration session, and then I need to go all around, with a lot of forms in hand" in a hospital as crowded as a train station, he said.
Park said he could not make himself clear to doctors and nurses sometimes. And for even a single health check-up, he said he needed to go through a complicated process concerning payments, prescription forms and shifting between different departments.
"I won't see a doctor for small illnesses like a foot sprain here, and if an operation is necessary, I will go back to South Korea," Park said.
Some foreigners believed that many government-funded hospitals in China had uncomfortable facilities and displayed ignorance towards patients' privacy, according to a survey.
The survey, by Wang Yongguang, head of the Institute for Minimally Invasive Medicine of Tongji University, further revealed that the quality of services at private medical units was a source of worry for foreigners.
Many foreigners chose to go back to their home countries or elsewhere for medical treatment.
Gao Jinsong, a senior executive with Det Norske Veritas China, said his colleagues would go back to Britain or the United States to receive treatment for even small illnesses if China could not provide better health care.
The lack of multi-lingual medical practitioners, the medical treatment methods, culture, management system, and insurance scheme, all contributed to the fact that the health care needs of Beijing-based foreigners were not being fulfilled, said Zhang Chunxiu, deputy chief of government of the capital's Chaoyang District, where more than half of Beijing's 110,000 registered foreign residents live.
Statistics showed that among over 6,400 registered medical organizations in Beijing, fewer than 20 were able to serve foreigners, including only two top level hospitals, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and fewer than 200 doctors could provide medical services in foreign languages.
Fang Laiying, head of the health bureau in Beijing, said the capital would aim to provide an all-around health care system catering for the diversified needs of different groups, including foreigners.
And health authorities in Chaoyang said they would introduce high-end medical organizations targeting overseas citizens in its central business district and foreign embassy areas.
The Institute for Minimally Invasive Medicine of Tongji University is planning to establish a medical center in Chaoyang which would cater specifically to foreigners.
Their complaints range from the lack of foreign language speakers among staff at local hospitals to the procedure of seeing a doctor being too complicated.
Now, in a move to coincide with Beijing's aim to become an international metropolis, local authorities have vowed to improve health care for foreigners.
Park, 30, from South Korea, has been a student in Beijing for six years. He said he was shocked at the marathon-style procedure to see a doctor at a Beijing hospital.
"It starts with a time-consuming registration session, and then I need to go all around, with a lot of forms in hand" in a hospital as crowded as a train station, he said.
Park said he could not make himself clear to doctors and nurses sometimes. And for even a single health check-up, he said he needed to go through a complicated process concerning payments, prescription forms and shifting between different departments.
"I won't see a doctor for small illnesses like a foot sprain here, and if an operation is necessary, I will go back to South Korea," Park said.
Some foreigners believed that many government-funded hospitals in China had uncomfortable facilities and displayed ignorance towards patients' privacy, according to a survey.
The survey, by Wang Yongguang, head of the Institute for Minimally Invasive Medicine of Tongji University, further revealed that the quality of services at private medical units was a source of worry for foreigners.
Many foreigners chose to go back to their home countries or elsewhere for medical treatment.
Gao Jinsong, a senior executive with Det Norske Veritas China, said his colleagues would go back to Britain or the United States to receive treatment for even small illnesses if China could not provide better health care.
The lack of multi-lingual medical practitioners, the medical treatment methods, culture, management system, and insurance scheme, all contributed to the fact that the health care needs of Beijing-based foreigners were not being fulfilled, said Zhang Chunxiu, deputy chief of government of the capital's Chaoyang District, where more than half of Beijing's 110,000 registered foreign residents live.
Statistics showed that among over 6,400 registered medical organizations in Beijing, fewer than 20 were able to serve foreigners, including only two top level hospitals, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and fewer than 200 doctors could provide medical services in foreign languages.
Fang Laiying, head of the health bureau in Beijing, said the capital would aim to provide an all-around health care system catering for the diversified needs of different groups, including foreigners.
And health authorities in Chaoyang said they would introduce high-end medical organizations targeting overseas citizens in its central business district and foreign embassy areas.
The Institute for Minimally Invasive Medicine of Tongji University is planning to establish a medical center in Chaoyang which would cater specifically to foreigners.
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