Public Health Ministry To Improve State-run Hospitals Nationwide

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Public Health Ministry to improve state-run hospitals nationwide

BANGKOK: -- In an attempt to improve Thailand's medical services to patients at state-run hospitals nationwide, the Public Health Ministry will upgrade its medical centers and provincial hospitals through boosting personnel and equipment, Dr. Prat Boonyawongvirot, Acting Permanent Secretary for Public Health, said here on Saturday.

Under the four-year plan, medical services at the government-run medical centres and hospitals will be evaluated every six months from now in a bid to achieve targets set by each province.

Between 1,800 to 2,000 patients now receive treatment daily at each provincial hospital.

About 200 medical centres and community hospitals would be upgraded so that doctors and nurses would be on duty round-the-clock, Dr. Prat said.

Outpatients can see doctors within 30 minutes of arrival, instead of after an average of some three hours as is the case now , he said. If the symptoms of the patients are severe, they would be sent to provincial hospital for treatment.

At present there are 95 state-run hospitals throughout the country which provide medical care under the government-sponsored Bt30 health care scheme, he said.

Fourteen hospitals upcountry are now equipped with sufficient, modern equipment capable of providing treatment to patients suffering from acute diseases.

They include central hospitals in the northern provinces of Phrae, Phitsanulok and Nakhon Sawan; the northeastern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Si Sa Ket, Roi Et and Kalasin; the eastern province of Chonburi and Chacherngsao, the central provinces of Ayutthaya and Ratchaburi; and the southern provinces of Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla.

--TNA 2006-04-01