Good news
Curious about the quality of medical examination and treatment at the Can Tho Family Doctor Clinic at the Thuong Thanh Ward Health Station (Cai Rang District), on October 28, Mr. Pham Van Nam (1942, Thanh Thang area) took a motorbike taxi here to try to see a doctor. After waiting for about 10 minutes, Mr. Nam was called in by the doctor to ask about the details of his condition, take an electrocardiogram, and have an ultrasound, all of which were free of charge.
"After the examination, the doctor discovered that I had additional small stones but advised that I should not do anything for the time being because I was old, and should only be monitored. Through the discussion, I found the doctor friendly and gave reasonable advice, so I was very satisfied and had confidence," said Mr. Nam.
At the age of over 80, Mr. Nam said that going to the doctor and getting medicine used to be difficult because he had to travel 5km and wait for a long time at the Medical Center. Now the Family Medicine Clinic has come to the countryside with a spacious appearance, new equipment, and friendly doctors and nurses, so everyone is excited.
Also visiting the BSGD clinic for the first time that day, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien (born in 1954, Cai Rang district) shared: "We felt like we were going to a private clinic, which means, in a positive way, we were being cared for and monitored by a doctor near our home."
The Family Medicine Clinic at Thuong Thanh Ward Health Station (Cai Rang District) along with the clinics at Thuan Hung Ward Health Station (Thot Not District) and Thanh Tien Commune Health Station (Vinh Thanh District) were inaugurated by the Can Tho City Department of Health on October 21.
After 1 week of implementation, the number of visits to the stations for medical examination and treatment tended to increase, especially at the clinic of Thuong Thanh ward, it doubled.
"We propose that we need a team of specialized, skilled doctors with many years of experience in the field of family medicine, serving the people 24/7, every day of the week" - Specialist Doctor I Truong Thanh Hoi, Head of Thuong Thanh Ward Health Station, said.
Need specific mechanisms and policies
Speaking with Lao Dong on October 28, Dr. Truong Ty - Director of Cai Rang District Health Center - acknowledged that the family health clinic is a very good trend because it is close to the community. However, to maintain operations, the clinic needs to have policies on health insurance payments for patients, avoiding the situation where patients are not paid and transferred to higher levels, affecting health insurance care activities.
"I hope the Ministry of Health and Social Insurance will have a payment policy for family medicine clinics because there is currently no payment code. This will be convenient for people, medical staff and support work, improve the quality of treatment at district health centers. At that time, the center only needs to treat diseases that require hospitalization, avoiding overload" - Mr. Ty said.
It is known that the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 has taken effect since the beginning of 2024, however, Vietnam still does not have specific mechanisms, policies, and instructions related to implementing the family doctor model.
In order for the Family Medicine Clinic to be more effective, the Can Tho City Department of Health has recommended that the People's Committee allocate sufficient funds for preventive medicine and facilities for grassroots health care; issue a circular guiding the implementation and clearly defining the standards of the Family Medicine Clinic; issue a circular stipulating the list and contents of basic health service packages for health stations; issue regulations on the mechanism for financial assurance and allocation of the state budget for grassroots health care and preventive medicine;...
Talking to us on the afternoon of October 29, Mr. Hoang Quoc Cuong - Director of the Department of Health said: "The health sector hopes that the family doctor clinic will be the model closest to the people, closely connected with and managing people's health, creating the most favorable working environment for doctors and nurses working at the station. The Department also proposed a pilot mechanism such as socialization to deploy services to help increase revenue for the clinic and retain medical staff in the public system."
