The Ca Mau Department of Health said that the number of patients coming to some units has decreased sharply, causing revenue to decrease accordingly. In the last months of 2024, 6 units are expected to have a shortage of regular operating funds and salaries and allowances for employees due to low revenue from medical examination and treatment.
Hospitals are deserted, lacking funds to operate and pay the minimum expenses for doctors, nurses and medical staff. Life is difficult, work is hard, stressful, and really unfair to workers.
This situation is the reason why medical staff cannot be recruited into public health facilities. Not to mention, many capable people have switched to working for private hospitals. In Ca Mau alone, from 2023 to now, 13 civil servants have quit their jobs and transferred jobs. Meanwhile, in 2023, only 5/27 targets were recruited.
It's also a vicious cycle, when public hospitals lack good doctors and facilities, patients go to higher-level hospitals or private medical facilities, and public hospitals are left empty.
The number of patients is the same as in previous years or maybe a little higher, but many private hospitals have opened, the facilities and equipment are fully equipped, attracting many good doctors, and attracting all the customers. As for public hospitals - according to Director of Phu Tan District Medical Center Mac Hong Nhu - the necessary equipment is still lacking such as: anesthesia machines, endoscopic surgery machines, and biochemical machines. Some equipment has been damaged and repaired many times, significantly affecting the work of diagnosing and treating patients. It is inevitable that there will be few customers.
To attract patients and retain good doctors and staff, the solution is to invest, upgrade facilities and purchase equipment. Doctors and nurses must be trained, improve their skills and be good at their profession. Hospitals that serve patients well and doctors that treat them well will not be left without customers. That is the law of the market.
Ca Mau Department of Health made recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee, Department of Finance, Social Insurance... about the difficulties of the health sector, especially the risk of salary shortages in some medical facilities.
This is the most important thing, we have to pay enough salary to the workers, if doctors do not have enough salary to live, they cannot talk about doing good work, quality medical examination and treatment. The worse the business, the more deserted the hospital becomes.
The reality of public hospitals being deserted is not only in Ca Mau but also in many other localities. In the current competitive environment, if you do not invest properly in facilities and human resources, you will fail.
