The Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation and legislators yesterday urged the government to enact the Medical Accident Prevention and Dispute Settlement Act (醫療事故預防及爭議處理法), which was passed in May, but will not take effect until 2024.
The foundation invited Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴), Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) and New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to push for the act’s implementation.
Foundation chairperson Joanne Liu (劉淑瓊) said that the legislative process took more than a decade before the bill was finally passed in May, which is expected to reduce conflicts between doctors and patients.
Photo: CNA
Many hope that the legislation would be enacted within a year after it was proclaimed, but because there was not enough time to complete preparatory works, including amending supporting laws, system development, selecting members for a committee of experts, and education and training, enactment is expected to be delayed to 2024, the foundation said.
As medical accidents are a heavy burden to both doctors and patients, the act stipulates that healthcare facilities must set up a medical accident care task force, and the government should fund a third-party legal entity to conduct professional assessments, Liu said.
There are still challenges, including whether patients and a healthcare faculty’s care task force can develop mutual trust, smaller hospitals or clinics lacking care capacity and a handling mechanism, and the difficulty ascertaining the truth if the third-party legal entity is not given independent investigative powers, she said.
The government should accelerate revision of supporting laws and establishment of non-litigation medical dispute settlement mechanisms that the public can trust and use, she said, urging the government to step up preparatory works and enactment to help relieve tension between doctors and patients.
Wu said when the lawmakers were reviewing the act, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) had said that there are seven supporting laws associated with the act, so its enactment was likely postponed because of budget allocation problems.
Wu did not agree, saying there have been trial runs of the act, so budget allocation should not be a reason to postpone it, as she called on the government to step up its preparations for enactment.
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