HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health yesterday ordered hospitals across the country to prepare for new patients and maintain good services for inpatients during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The ministry requested all hospitals to provide immediate first aid for severe emergencies, even if their injuries are not within the hospitals’ areas of expertise.

Only when the patients are out of critical condition should they be transferred to other hospitals, the ministry said in a statement.

All hospitals should have a clear patient transport plan, especially for elderly patients with acute pneumonia and suffering from sequelae of stroke, and children with respiratory diseases, it said.

The ministry also requested health departments across the country to reinforce the service mindset at hospitals in their areas and remind medical staff to maintain good services for inpatients during the holiday.

Working shifts should be divided between doctors, nurses and staff at the hospitals’ departments of emergency resuscitation and infection to ensure timely treatment for patients, the ministry said.

“All hospitals must be open 24 hours per day and make sure they have enough human resources, medicines, and medical equipment to handle emergencies such as victims injured in traffic accidents, people suffering from food poisoning, or mothers giving birth during the holiday,” it said in the statement.

Health centres and medical units should also prepare medicines, beds, and medical equipment in case of disease outbreaks, it added.   

Nguyễn Quốc Anh, director of Bạch Mai Hospital in Hà Nội, yesterday asked all doctors at the hospital to evaluate the conditions of their patients and decide whether they should be hospitalised, with priority given to those in serious conditions.

The doctors should inform concerned personnel of new inpatients prior to their arrival, and of their arrival times for better bed arrangement, he added.

“Do not, under any circumstances, pass patients around or create trouble for them and their family members,” he said.

Doctors at the hospital’s Artificial Kidney Unit will be on duty all day long during the holiday to perform dialyses for patients with kidney failure, Quốc Anh added.

The hospital’s leaders and doctors on February 1 will pay a visit and give presents to the patients that will be staying over the holiday, he said. Free meals will be provided for all inpatients and medical staff during February 4-6, he added.

A total of 147 accidents occurred nationwide over the four-day New Year’s holiday (December 29, 2018 – January 1, 2019), claiming 111 lives and injuring 61 people.

During Tết last year, 195 people died in traffic accidents while another 199 were injured, 2018, with alcohol being the leading cause. About 810 people were hospitalised during that time due to alcohol poisoning. — VNS