Emergency Doctor Warns Hospitals Are Struggling With Patient Surge

Thai Emergency Doctor Warns Hospitals Are Struggling With Patient Surge

A doctor at an unidentified Thai hospital says its emergency department has been overwhelmed for the past two to three months despite deploying more than 10 doctors during morning shifts. Photographs accompanying the doctor’s social media post showed patients waiting on trolleys and queues extending outside the emergency department. Staffing reportedly drops to eight doctors during afternoon shifts and four overnight, with some employees unable to eat until as late as 11 pm because of the workload. The hospital handles local patients and referrals from around the country while regularly treating accidents, psychiatric cases and patients affected by substances including methamphetamine, cannabis and kratom. The doctor asked whether hospitals elsewhere are experiencing similar increases in demand and questioned how facilities operating with only one or two physicians per shift are managing.