HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’sDepartment of Health has asked hospitals to not charge patients’ families forbasic services.

The move was made following reports that somehospitals in the city charged patients’ families for using basic services suchas toilets, water and chairs.

Earlier this month, a hospital in the city’s ThuDuc district announced it would charge patients’ families 30,000 VND (1.3 USD)per person per day for using such services.  

The hospital’s managers said the fee would beused to invest in improving health check-ups and treatment quality forpatients.

Director of Tu Du Hospital Le Quang Thanh said thatsome hospitals charged patients’ families with the aim of ensuring social orderand security at hospitals.

“The fee collection is considered part of managementmeasures to limit the number of patients’ families staying at the hospitals,ensure order and security and ensure the best treatment for patients,” he said.

Many criminals pretended to be related topatients to enter hospitals and it was common for patients and their familiesto have cell phones and money stolen, he added.
Thanh noted that the fee was small so the feecollection was not aimed at increasing hospitals’ incomes.

However, Director of the municipal Department ofHealth Tang Chi Thuong said it was unreasonable to charge patients’ familiesfor such basic services.

The department ordered the hospital in Thu Duc districtto stop the collection of such fees.

He said the cost for services such as restrooms, water, lifts, electrical outlets and other services were included incheck-up and treatment services so hospitals were not allowed to collect extrafees.

Hospitals should provide a wide range ofservices for patients and their families, depending on each hospital’s ability,he said. They could provide extra services with fees such as food, laundryservices and beds to meet the demands of certain patients and families. Theprice of these services must be publicised.

It was also necessary for hospitals to increaseinformation dissemination to raise awareness among patients and their familiesof abiding by regulations, particularly in keeping order and security andensuring that each patient is accompanied by one family member, he said.

The department also encouraged hospitals tobuild accommodation for patients and their families travelling from outside ofthe city.    

Hospitals in big cities like Hanoi and HCM Cityare in dire need of more accommodation for hospital patients and theirrelatives. Each hospital receives thousands of patients from other provincesand cities every day.

Each patient often has one or several familymembers accompanying them. It’s common to see patients’ relatives resting incorridors, under stairs, on benches or under trees on hospital premises as theycan’t afford to rent accommodation.

Hospital K in Hanoi, which provides treatmentfor cancer patients, for example, put into operation a residential complex forpatients and their families. The accommodation was offered for free at firstand later, the patients only have to pay 15,000 VND per person each day forelectricity and water, much cheaper than renting houses in areas around thehospital.

Regarding toilets, the health departmentrequired hospitals in the city to have plans to upgrade toilets in 2019 toensure better sanitation conditions for patients and their families, followinginstructions from the Ministry of Health, according to Thuong.-VNS/VNA