Gia Lộc

HCM CITY — After receiving dialysis treatment yesterday at Bình Chiểu Ward Health Centre, a 32-year-old patient said he was relieved that he no longer had to visit a district hospital in HCM City.

“I used to have to go to Thủ Đức District Hospital at 4am and then wait a long time to receive dialysis,” he said. “When I was told I could go the ward-level medical centre, I worried about the machine and the quality.”

But after his first treatment, the patient, who has chronic kidney failure, was pleased with the results.

“The machine is the same as the hospital’s, and the ward is near my house,” he said.

Each month, the man, who has end-stage kidney disease, receives dialysis 12 times.

Another patient with a kidney disorder, a female who lives in the area outside the city centre, said the ward-level clinic was similar to Thủ Đức District Hospital.

Dr Nguyễn Ngọc Vĩnh Phúc, head of the Bình Chiểu Ward Health Centre, said the centre’s two machines, as well as medical process and human resources, had been assessed by the city’s Department of Health.

The head of Thủ Đức District Hospital, Dr Nguyễn Minh Quân, said that many patients waiting for dialysis treatment at the hospital had lost valuable time at the jobs.

Concerned about the problem, Quân chose the Bình Chiểu Ward, which has 65,000 residents and many industrial parks for a pilot programme. The area is not located near Thủ Đức District Hospital.

Besides haemodialysis, other specialised clinics, including obstetrics, ear-nose-throat and others, operate at the Bình Chiểu Ward Health Centre, he said.

Quân sends his doctors at Thủ Đức District Hospital to work at the ward-level centre, where they train the ward’s doctors to perform the procedures independently.

If problems occur in the process, ambulances are available at the centre for transport to the district hospital, he added.

“It is important that we help the centre and encourage trust from local residents,” Quân said. “If the centre has qualified health officials, I’m sure that locals will prefer to go there for common diseases.”

The head of the city’s Department of Health, Tăng Chí Thượng, has praised the pilot programme for haemodialysis at the Bình Chiểu Ward Health Centre.

“The centre is the first in the country to carry out dialysis and to have different specialised clinics. This has been useful for local residents,” Thượng said.

If the pilot succeeds, the centre’s model, including dialysis, will be offered at two more centres, Hiệp Bình Chánh and Linh Trung.

He said that other districts would learn how to set up dialysis treatment from doctors at Thủ Đức District Hospital.

Thượng suggested that they choose one or two wards with a high population density for such implementation.  

Việt Nam has more than 80,000 patients with end-stage renal disease, according to the Ministry of Health. Many centres for haemodialysis nationwide are overloaded and cannot meet demand. —VNS