Thoroughly implementing the triage system for healthcare facilities in Taiwan is challenging, because it is not compulsory, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) superintendent Wu Ming-shiang (吳明賢) said yesterday.
Wu made the remark on the sidelines of NTUH’s 129th anniversary celebration seminar, the theme of which was “Children’s Health: Challenges and Innovation.”
Local media have reported overcrowded emergency rooms and long waiting times for hospital beds.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
Asked about whether an increase in COVID-19 cases might be the cause, Wu said there are many factors, such as timing — emergency rooms and outpatient clinics are more crowded on Mondays and Tuesdays — and patients’ willingness to be transferred to other hospitals or wait.
NTUH mainly treats patients with relatively urgent, critical, rare and complicated illnesses, and various cancers, Wu said, adding that there might not be other hospitals that are better suited to treat or are willing to receive those patients.
Some patients also prefer to wait rather than be transferred to another hospital, he said.
Having no restrictions on people’s access to healthcare services is also a reason the triage system cannot be implemented thoroughly, Wu said.
If the government is afraid of offending the public by setting restrictions, the health system gets sacrificed, he added.
A triage system for healthcare facilities is ideal, but is not compulsory, and hospitals cannot refuse patients on their own, Wu said.
In some countries, patients see a family doctor first before being referred to specialists, but there are no such restrictions in Taiwan, he said, adding that the public is satisfied with the easy access to specialists, so politicians do not dare change the rules for fear of losing support.
However, the aging population would only lead to hospitals becoming more strained, so the government must have comprehensive medium to long-term plans, including the training of healthcare professionals and improving their work environment and salaries, Wu said.
Using the theme of the seminar as an example, he said pediatric healthcare is very important and people are concerned about not having enough pediatricians.
However, while there were about 300,000 newborns per year in the past, the number has drastically dropped to about 120,000 per year recently, so plans for training pediatricians and improving their work conditions might need to change, Wu said.
The government cannot solve the problems with short-term solutions such as raising salaries or providing subsidies whenever it thinks a group of healthcare professionals is working too hard, he said.
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