Bt30 Plan Batters Chiang Mai Hospitals

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Bt30 plan batters Chiang Mai hospitals

CHIANGMAI: Chiang Mai hospitals are suffering a burden caused by an unexpected sharp increase in demand for medical services under the Bt30 healthcare scheme. They expect to face further financial difficulties as a proposed solution has fallen on deaf government ears.

Last year, the third year of the government low-cost healthcare programme, the demand for services doubled compared to the second year, said Dr Paisan Hanyawinichkul, deputy chief provincial health officer. This is in contrast to the country’s overall trend reported by the National Health Security Office which overseas the Bt30 scheme, which said demand for the service began to decline after the second year. “People walk in and out of hospitals just like it’s fun here,” he said cynically.

In 2002, the hospital visit rate in Chiang Mai was only 2.61 times per person per year, but alarmingly, the rate became 4.27, the doctor explained, adding that the average rate researched by the Public Health Ministry is 2.4.

Many cases, he said, were aliments for which it is unnecessary to see doctors or use medicine. They could be cured by self care.

“The better quality of healthcare we can achieve, the higher the demand for the service,” he said.

People had become too dependent on hospital services rather than being self reliant as they should be, he said, adding that this is in spite of heavy investments on health prevention and promotion campaigns.

Although doctors and hospital workers had to work much harder, he said it was impossible for them to get the higher pay they deserved due to the fact that the province needs to tighten its belt to survive.

The province had yet to face financial problems as in some other provinces, yet in the long run, Paisan said the situation is not improving, with rising demands from patients.

In addition to work burdens, hospital workers also suffer exhaustion after receiving many complaints from patients who have high expectations.

--The Nation 2004-02-19