Only One Doctor Left At Phuket Hospital

[sriracha john]

Only one doctor left at Phuket hospital

The staffing crisis at Patong hospital in Phuket has worsened with the resignations of two of the remaining three doctors. Of the 12 doctors originally assigned to the hospital only the Director, Tawisak Netwong, remains. Dr Tawisak earlier also expressed his intention to quit, but his resignation letter was put on hold by the Public Health Permanent Secretary. Dr Tawisak said yesterday the hospital, which treats many foreigners, was in crisis, riddled with problems ranging from low pay to taxing workloads. He will today explain to the House of Representatives Public Health Committee the problems his hospital faces. He had heard the Committee wants to talk to the doctors who have resigned. However, he said he no longer has the authority to order those doctors to do anything since they have resigned. All he could do is ask them to cooperate, he said. However, some of the doctors had already gone abroad to further their studies. Dr Tawisak insisted the hospital needs a long-term solution. Dr Tawisak said even before the latest two resignations, seven doctors had quit in just the past month. The hospital has had to enlist the help of doctors from outside the district who are now working on rotation to keep the hospital going.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/011008_News/01Oct2008_news14.php

Edited October 1, 2008 by sriracha john

[Farma]

It’s taken a while for this to appear in the English news. I was watching the story on Thai TV news over a week ago and asked the missus about it.

Her response, do you blame them, 10,000 a month to work in a government hospital or 100,000 for a private hospital, what would you chose.

[PeaceBlondie]

People lie about salaries more than they lie about sex. A government doctor - young, no specialty - told me in March 2003 that his salary was about 25K. They all have private clinics in the evening. But the Patong hospital sounds like they are really in a crisis.

[Farma]

PB If he’s a new grad you may find that 25k includes a 15k bonus for not owning a private practice. That bonus goes as soon as they open an afterhour’s clinic for themselves.

Regardless it’s still a sad and worrying state of affairs when I hospital can’t retain doctors.

[MMR]

PB If he's a new grad you may find that 25k includes a 15k bonus for not owning a private practice. That bonus goes as soon as they open an afterhour's clinic for themselves.

Regardless it's still a sad and worrying state of affairs when I hospital can't retain doctors.

Interesting, what is the period of employment until this does not apply?

[huggybear]

Only one doctor left at Phuket hospital

The staffing crisis at Patong hospital in Phuket

I went in there to have some wounds cleaned from a moto wreck last April. I was surprised at how dirty that hospital is. Nothing like Bangkok International or Phuket International.

It's a shame Patong does not have a better facility.

[Farma]

^^I can only go on my wife’s experience. She lost her 15k bonus as soon as she registered her business. That was after 9 years working in hospitals.

Edited October 1, 2008 by Farma

[LivinginKata]

Patong Hospital has rapidly turned into a disgrace. Dity & understaffed, although only a few years old it already looks very old. A friend of mine had a heart problem and was taken to Patong Hospital. No private room available, so out into a public ward, which had absolutely no privacy as straight off the entry door. Only saw a real doctor for a couple of minutes each day. Ok, it was cheap .... but I know where I would rather go ... Phuket International or Phuket Bangkok.... no matter the price.

[Boater]

Is legal for them to open????? ... is there a min quota of doctors that must be on Duty??? .....

[fiddlehead]

I haven't been there since the SARS epidemic. At the time it was good. I had excellent service there.

From what i am reading now, it sounds like the hospital up in Issan where my Mother in law went just last week. (the family brought her in food from the vendors outside the building)

Or the one in Krabi which is pretty dirty, totally full (patients occupied beds are all over the hallways exposed to the elements for one thing) (the doctor there was reading my x-rays upside down until the nurse informed him, he also appeared to be about 18 years old)

I am guessing it is typical of hospitals in the rest of Thailand.

The 30 baht rule may be a good idea but how can you afford to pay a doctor more than 10k a month if the patients are only paying 30 baht?

[flamingtodd]

I actually tried to have a credit card mailed into the Gov system. It has been 7 months, and it has yet to arrive.

Why would anyone who could afford it, trust their health to a Gov run place vs. a Privately owned one.

I have heard of being cheap, but that is ludicrous.

ludicrous–adjective causing laughter because of absurdity; provoking or deserving derision; ridiculous; laughable: a ludicrous lack of money.

L.A.Y.O.R.

todd

[fiddlehead]

I actually tried to have a credit card mailed into the Gov system. It has been 7 months, and it has yet to arrive.

Why would anyone who could afford it, trust their health to a Gov run place vs. a Privately owned one.

I have heard of being cheap, but that is ludicrous.

ludicrous–adjective causing laughter because of absurdity; provoking or deserving derision; ridiculous; laughable: a ludicrous lack of money.

L.A.Y.O.R.

todd

Well, i went there because when i asked someone if there was a hospital or good clinic around, that's where they sent me.

And like i said, the service was good IMO.

Didn't know there was options back then. That's before there was forums and word of mouth was what i went by.

On the other hand, I've had at least 20 different things mailed to me here and got every one of them in a timely manner.

I think it's perhaps a little ludicrous that you can't get an envelope in 7 months.

[huggybear]

The 30 baht rule may be a good idea but how can you afford to pay a doctor more than 10k a month if the patients are only paying 30 baht?

spot on fiddlehead

[LivinginKata]

The 30 baht rule may be a good idea but how can you afford to pay a doctor more than 10k a month if the patients are only paying 30 baht?

spot on fiddlehead

Because central government is supposed to hand out subsidies to the hospitals. The 30 baht scheme was brought in by Thaksin, good for electoral votes, but from what I have read central government has not provided enough subsidies to keep the hospitals financially viable = very poor public health care.

[Boater]

The 30 baht rule may be a good idea but how can you afford to pay a doctor more than 10k a month if the patients are only paying 30 baht?

spot on fiddlehead

Because central government is supposed to hand out subsidies to the hospitals. The 30 baht scheme was brought in by Thaksin, good for electoral votes, but from what I have read central government has not provided enough subsidies to keep the hospitals financially viable = very poor public health care.

Also normal workers in Thailand pay towords this system, i for example pay 750 THB... similar to NI in the UK... but being thailand, i doubt this is properly handed out...

[LivinginKata]

Also normal workers in Thailand pay towords this system, i for example pay 750 THB... similar to NI in the UK... but being thailand, i doubt this is properly handed out...

If you mean employees of companies who pay a form of social security, these folks go to a private hospitals. In Phuket they go to the Mission Hospital. The 30 baht scheme is for Thais who have no social security card and have to use government hospitals. Having tried to use the Mission last year I can tell you that hospital was packed out with people, it was bedlam. I decided to go straight to the Phuket International for a more relaxed health check.

[geriatrickid]

Ok, so there is a staffing problem at Phuket Problem. Yes, it's a serious situation, but why should Thailand be any better than the rest of the world? Newsflash: The exact same or worse situations are found in many if not all developed countries. At least, there are private clinics available in Phuket. In some countries where medical care is "free", it is often unavailable or there are waiting lists stretching into years for some basic treatments. Try and get heart surgery or access to cancer treatment in parts of Canada, the UK or Australia and chances are you will wait a while. Live in Canada's rural zones or Australias outback and you might as well die before you find a doctor. Looking for a specialist in the UK? Dream on.

Count your blessings you can access health care here, even if you pay for it, because chances are it's rationed in your homelands.

Here's a pretty cool ad put out by Doctors of The World (Netherlands branch) showing doctor/population ratios around the world. http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/docto...?size=_original

[LivinLOS]

I have always had first class free medical in UK and mainland Europe.. France and Holland were as good as UK bupa !!

And claiming that UK hospitals have one doctor for the entire hospital.. Sounds like just another Thai apologist to me.. Remember you do pay to use the hospital (farang prices inflated over Thais for the same things too)..Its not like your asking for something for nothing.

[geriatrickid]

I have always had first class free medical in UK and mainland Europe.. France and Holland were as good as UK bupa !!

And claiming that UK hospitals have one doctor for the entire hospital.. Sounds like just another Thai apologist to me.. Remember you do pay to use the hospital (farang prices inflated over Thais for the same things too)..Its not like your asking for something for nothing.

Is that so? Well, why don't you look at some of the news articles coming out of the UK.

The quality of patient care in NHS hospitals is threatened by a chronic shortage of junior doctors, the British Medical Association warned last night.Registrars and house officers are being pressured to work excessive hours to fill gaps in ward rotas. They are at risk of being bullied by managers and consultants into overworking, often without extra pay, the BMA said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/31/nhs.health

"The BMA has always had concerns that poor conditions for doctors would be bad news for patients" Mohib Khan, British Medical Association

NHS facing locum doctor shortage leaked government memo shows. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7271029.stm If you are in a rural area or outside of a major population center in the UK, the likelihood of obtaining access to specialist care or even a GP is low. My point was that the situation at the Phuket hospital is found everywhere. One need not be an apologist for Thailand to understand the difficulties of health care systems. And I did acknowledge that the pay for care option eliminated some of the worry for some people.

BTW, medical care is not "free" in the UK and EU. Working people pay for the medical services through taxes. They also pay for it when they present at an ER with a real emergency and have to wait hours because people that are not in need of ER services have jammed up the ER because there is no other option to receive medical care. In the UK, ERs are burdened by the delivery of basic health care to patients that cannot otherwise access medical care through the NHS. This problem is repeated throughout the developed world. It's neither a slam on the UK or a defense of Thailand. That's just the way it is.

[NBT TV Phuket]

Phuket Public Health Office is drawing medical doctors from other hospitals to support Patong Hospital after its doctors resigned due to workload

With a medical staffing crisis still going on at Patong Hospital, the Provincial Public Health Office is working on rectifying the problem on an urgent basis. According to the provincial chief doctor Paisarn Worasatit, doctors from Wachira and Thalang hospitals have been assigned to be on duty at Patong Hospital while his office also seeks assistance from other hospitals in the Andaman region and Surat Thani to send doctors to help. Dr. Paisarn said a doctor from Ranong province will come to work here. He however also seeks support from other regions as southern Thailand is also facing medical staff shortages. Dr. Paisarn went on to explain the long term solution saying that he proposes that all 3 government hospitals in Phuket which are Wachira, Patong and Thalang hospitals be expanded to cater for fast growing number of patients. The Patong and Thalang hospitals in particular should be improved to be 180 bed hospitals, he said. He stressed that in Phuket about 10 doctors resign from government hospitals each year. He further stated that if the two community hospitals of Patong and Thalang can be upgraded to be general hospitals, then they would be able to provide better services to the public and tourists alike.

from item---4-- on VDO: http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=737

Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) + Radio Thailand FM90.5 at 8.30am & perhaps repeats on Phuket Cable TV channel 1 at 7pm & 1am, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces & maybe Mazz Radio FM108 at 7pm in Phuket, Thursday 2nd October 2008 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/ & www.YouTube.com/AndamanNews.com Send comments to [email protected]

[sriracha john]

Dr. Tawisak Netwong

The one-man band keeping hospital afloat

Dr Tawisak Netwong, the 47-year-old Director of Patong hospital in Phuket, talks to Bangkok Post about how the facility's plan to go public failed to materialise, triggering a mass exodus of doctors which left him on his own. In September last year, the 60-bed hospital announced its plan to turn into a public organisation which could welcome up to 500 patients a day. But the plan was ditched and 10 doctors resigned in quick succession, citing a heavy workload and low pay.

How and why did the plan to go public turn sour?

During the Surayud government, the Public Sector Development Commission gave its full backing to our plan, save for Commission Head Kosit Panpiemras. He told the Public Health Ministry to rethink the proposal. By the time of the second revision, the government's term had expired and we were left where we started. Now I'm too tired to try again.

What was Kosit's rationale?

A total of 21 public organisations did not succeed as they had planned. But none of them were hospitals. Frankly speaking, I still believe that many hospitals and schools need revamping.

How do you get by as the only doctor here?

The doctors who resigned still

Interview continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/091008_News/09Oct2008_news14.php