HÀ NỘI — Health Minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến yesterday said that any healthcare provider would be rejected from their work if they broke the code of ethnics and damaged the image of Vietnamese doctors.

The healthcare sector is determined to improve service delivery quality and attitude to patients in order to better satisfy patients and service users. From the middle of last year, the Health Ministry launched a programme on improving healthcare providers’ manners and attitude to better serve patients.

Minister Tiến spoke via an online meeting yesterday with health officials across the country, commenting that patients’ satisfaction of healthcare services was a top goal for the healthcare sector.

According to reports released at the meeting yesterday, five healthcare providers were fired, seven people were dismissed from their duties, 50 people were assigned to other positions and more than 15,800 people were disciplined as they were found to have committed wrongdoings against patients.

The Health Ministry’s hotline – 19009095 – received over 4,000 calls in the last six months, about 40 per cent of which were patient complaints on hospital infrastructure and poor facilities, 28 per cent related to professional procedures and 14 per cent related to healthcare providers’ attitude and performance.

Hospitals and healthcare centres must pay attention to both medical services and non-medical services like parking, security, canteens and transportation in hospitals, Tiến said.

She asked hospital managers to review the operation of such services, particularly those provided by companies which are not under the management of hospitals.

“Hospitals must ensure transparent biddings to select providers of such hospital logistic services,” she said. — VNS