>>The unfailing dedication of healthcare professionals
>>She does not let go of her patients
|
–
|
| Since the outbreak of COVID-19, health workers have had to shoulder an enormous amount of work. Photo : VNA/CVN |
The epidemic is generally under control in Vietnam. But the number of infections, serious patients and deaths still remains high in several localities. This represents a major challenge for prevention and control activities, particularly in the context where basic health centers are experiencing a shortage of personnel.
A serious overload
Associate Pr.-Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department, informs that since the beginning of 2021, the southern megalopolis has recorded nearly 1,000 health workers leaving their posts due to work overload. “This trend, which is still continuing, is causing a severe shortage of staff, making it more difficult to care for COVID-19 patients.”he worries.
After the withdrawal of the reinforcement medical teams from outside, the health sector of Binh Duong is facing difficulties related to human resources in the service of the fight against COVID-19. This southern province currently needs at least 6,000 health workers, including 2,000 doctors.
Still in the South, Dong Nai is also facing the lack of staff in treatment centers for COVID-19 patients. “Many dispensaries in Long Thành district lack health workers, causing difficulties in their mission to prevent and fight against the coronavirus.says Nguyên Thi Van Van, director of the district medical center.
 –
|
| Basic health centers face difficulties related to human resources in the service of the fight against COVID-19. Photo : VNA/CVN |
According to Trân Dac Phu, former head of the Department of Preventive Medicine and senior advisor to the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, “our network of basic health centers is fragile, providing insufficient staff to face such a serious health crisis as that of COVID-19. It needs more investment and attention to grow stronger. Since the onset of the pandemic, health workers in these facilities have had to shoulder an enormous amount of work. They are overloaded.
A proposed new mechanism
To remedy the situation, the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department proposed policies to the Municipal People’s Committee to retain staff from basic health centers, ending job abandonment. One of the solutions put forward is to grant additional allowances to those who engage in the fight against COVID.
Considering the call for labor in these establishments as “a big challenge“, the said service has worked with medical universities, including that of Pham Ngoc Thach, and proposed “a new mechanism according to which fresh graduates must obligatorily work for six months in district or district hospitals, and 12 months during district or commune dispensaries, instead of remaining 18 months in the former.
It is estimated that once this brand new mechanism is approved, each year, the dispensaries of the districts and communes will receive at least 500 young doctors. These graduates will receive an allowance equivalent to 1.5 times the regional minimum wage, or about 6 million VND (more than 230 euros) per month.
The increase in the number of basic health centers is also a question. According to Nguyên Van Vinh Châu, deputy director of the Municipal Health Service, the rate of health workers in a district or a commune in Ho Chi Minh City is very low, only 2.3 out of 10,000 inhabitants, much lower. to the authorized quota and needs. This rate is 6 in Hanoi and the national average is 7.4. Thus, the Health Service of Ho Chi Minh City recommends that in the long term, the National Assembly examines the situation in order to be able to distribute this rate no longer according to administrative borders, but to the density of the population, ideally 10,000 inhabitants with a dispensary whose number must increase from 5 to 10 at the minimum and from 10 to 20 at the most.
On time allowances
For its part, the province of Dong Nai has promulgated policies to support medical personnel. Its health sector union has granted financial assistance to officers infected with COVID-19, 10 million VND for those who tested positive and 100 million for those who unfortunately died. In addition, at the end of October 2021, the Provincial Health Service proposed to invest in the rehabilitation and repair of 104 of its 170 health posts for the period 2021-2025, thus improving the efficiency of medical examinations and treatments in the new adaptation phase.
 –
|
| A doctor takes a short break before continuing his work at a field hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2021. Photo : VNA/CVN |
An Giang (Sud), de “new methods have been implemented to reduce the pressure on the medical team in charge of the fight against the epidemic”, announces Trân Quang Hiên, director of the Provincial Health Service. Specifically, the province has decided to grant allowances to health workers for the restoration of their health after nights of service. An Giang is also one of the leading localities in applying technology for treating and monitoring COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms at home, helping to reduce hospital overload.
For its part, the Hanoi Health Department has proposed to municipal authorities to give preferential policies to attract human resources to basic health centers. One of the proposed solutions is to grant financial assistance to doctors registered to work in dispensaries… At the same time, he suggests a mechanism allowing these establishments to have the right to recruit employees. Like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi hopes that the number of health workers in a neighborhood or township will increase in line with population growth.
It’s necessary “act drastically to resolve the shortcomings in the health system, including the shortage of personnel in basic establishments“, added Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during the conference on the implementation of the missions of the health sector for 2022, held on January 20 in Hanoi.
Linh Thao/CVN
–
