HÀ NỘI - Hà Nội Department of Health has sent doctors, nurses and medical workers from central level hospitals to district level facilities to help share advanced professional techniques.

The plan aims to shorten the professional capacity gap between medical staff at central and district levels.

Due to limited capacity of doctors at grassroots-level hospitals, many patients infected with serious diseases must be transferred to central hospitals, causing overcrowding. Meanwhile, grassroots-level hospitals struggle to attract patients.

Doctor Nguyễn Khắ0c Hiền, director of the city’s Health Department, said that this year 35 medical facilities in the city have sent 55 doctors, eight nurses, technicians and midwives specilising in various major fields, from internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics to ear-nose-throat and teeth to grassroots-level hospitals.

The mobilised healthcare workers have strong professional qualifications. Many are heads and deputy heads of clinical departments of central hospitals.

Until now, 133 techniques have been transferred through direct guidance.

The technique transfer has widened opportunities for city dwellers to access better healthcare services.

Thanks to the transfer, Mỹ Đức Hospital doctors are able to do ovarian cyst endoscopic surgeries. Quốc Oai Hospital can do kidney dialysis.

In addition, doctors at Chương Mỹ Hospital are able to operate on thryroid gland lumps and conduct urinary analysis. Since the transfer started in 2014, more and more patients in the district and from surrounding areas flock to the hospital. The number of tables offering medical examinations has risen from nine to 14 to meet increasing demands of local patients.

The hospital’s 350 beds are always full, with peak times having up to 400 inpatients.

Nguyễn Quang Mậu, director of Phúc Thọ District’s Hospital, said that conducting surgeries was very rare in the hospital before July 2014. However, the hospital now conducts more than 100 surgeries each month. Each day, there are up to six or seven operations, equal to the whole month’s surgeries in previous years.

“Earlier, the hospital doctors never thought of endoscopic surgeries. Now the technique is applied for ectopic pregnancy and appendicitis surgeries,” he said.

According to the plan of Hà Nội’s Health Ministry, there will be additional 15 medical workers sent to 25 grassroots-level medical facilities next year. - VNS