[Taiwan Society] A post about a patient who waited more than five days for surgery on a collarbone broken in a car accident has fuelled criticism that large hospitals cannot hold on to emergency physicians. The Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine says the share of ER doctors working at medical centres fell from 28 percent to 25 percent over five years.
[Taiwan Society] According to the United Daily News on the 25th, a netizen wrote on Facebook that his mother was taken to the emergency room after a car accident on the 17th. Doctors diagnosed a clavicle fracture needing surgery, and the family expected it the next day. The hospital repeatedly postponed it, citing more urgent patients, a woman in labour and a shortage of anaesthesiologists, and surgery came more than five days later. His mother barely ate while waiting.
광고 문의 · 300×250The report recalled an earlier case at National Taiwan University Hospital, where a woman in her 80s died after waiting 12 days for a bed. An anonymous doctor said the medical community warned over a decade ago of the five major departments being left empty, and that staff shortages persist. A recent exodus of nurses has squeezed capacity further, he added.
ER doctors at medical centres down from 28 to 25 percent
Lee Chih-huang, secretary-general of the society, said ER doctor attrition has been fastest over the past two years. The society reported last year that 66 ER doctors said they planned to leave between January and May. Over five years the share working at medical centres fell from 28 to 25 percent, while the share in clinics rose from 14 to 19 percent and regional hospitals showed no clear change.
Society chair Chen Chien-hua said the Ministry of Health and Welfare caps annual emergency specialist training at 98 places, which have been filled in recent years. Departures continue regardless, especially over the past year and this year, and other specialties face the same problem. He cited worsening working conditions, ER overcrowding, insufficient National Health Insurance payments and hospitals' reluctance to hire more ER doctors and nurses.
Chen proposed raising insurance payments, making overtime pay tax-exempt and offering concrete retention and return incentives, and urged the ministry to address pay, hours, tax and working conditions. The name of the hospital treating the patient and any official government response were not confirmed in this report.