SEOUL, Sept 12 (Askume) – South Korea on Thursday announced the start of a two-week special emergency medical response period in September and said it would use all available resources to ensure services are running smoothly as a strike by young doctors threatens to disrupt medical services.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo said in a televised briefing that the government will temporarily raise the fees doctors receive from health insurance on National Day next week to “give a little back to medical professionals for their dedication.”
This includes a 3.5-fold increase in testing fees paid to specialists at regional emergency medical centers responsible for critical emergency patients, Han said.
South Korea’s health ministry said last week it was deploying military doctors to assist some hospital emergency rooms because of a shortage of medical staff, but disagreed with warnings from some doctors that the system was on the verge of collapse.
In February, thousands of trainee doctors, including interns and residents, went on strike to protest the government’s plan to increase the number of medical students by 2,000 per year to address a severe shortage of doctors.
The government says hospitals that depend on trainee doctors in various disciplines are having to turn patients away from their emergency rooms, citing shortage of staff and workload on existing doctors.
“Many survivors complain of fatigue. But … we don’t have to worry about medical issues,” Han said.
Han said about 8,000 medical clinics and hospitals across the country will be open every day next week during Chuseok, one of South Korea’s biggest festivals.
This is compared to about 3,600 clinics and hospitals that were open daily during the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this year, he said.
Mr Han urged people to go to local clinics based on the severity of their symptoms rather than rush to major hospitals during the holidays.
