PHÚ THỌ - The Ministry of Health (MoH) collaborated with Phú Thọ Province Department of Health to hold Yên Lập District Medical Centre’s Family Medicine Scheme Accession Ceremony and the signing ceremony of the centre with four central hospitals on Monday.

Family medicine is emerging as the major solution to health administration at the local level, according to Phạm Lê Tuấn, Deputy Health Minister. This practice will help improve medical quality and provide people with better services. With the implementation of family medicine at Yên Lập District Medical Centre, experienced doctors from central hospitals will collaborate with local medical staff to enhance chronic disease prevention and health promotion.

Nguyễn Trọng Khoa, deputy head of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment under the MoH, stressed the significance of family doctors in providing personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community. Family medicine’s primary care ethics highlight disease prevention and health promotion based on the knowledge of the patient and his living condition. “Yên Lập District Medical Centre plans to pilot and implement the family medicine model at its medical examination department following the holistic nature of this speciality,” said Khoa.

At the ceremony, the four hospitals including Hà Nội Heart Hospital, the National Hospital of Acupuncture, the National Hospital of Endocrine and the National Geriatric Hospital committed to conducting training sessions for local medical staff, send doctors and nurses to 17 ward medical centres in Yên Lập District and admit seriously-ill patients when local facilities are unable to treat them.

Hồ Đức Hải, director of Phú Thọ Province Department of Health, said that Yên Lập District was implementing the individual health administration model. The collaboration with central hospitals will create conditions for local medical staff to increase their management capability in controlling non-communicable diseases.

The Family Medicine Scheme, after being piloted in Yên Lập District, will be widely launched in other districts of Phú Thọ Province in 2017 and 2018, according to Hải.

At present, the first phase of the Family Medicine Scheme between 2013 and 2020 has been operated in eight provinces and cities of Việt Nam. It contributes to providing primary and continuing healthcare for individuals and helps to reduce hospitals’ overcrowding.

On the occasion, MoH also opened a training course of common diseases based on family medicine values for local medical staff. – VNS