Parents angry over long wait storm into hospital pharmacy
8/11/2008 14:28
Cai Wenjun and Dong Hui/Shanghai Daily news
Officials
from Fudan University's Children's Hospital said yesterday they will prolong
out-patient service hours and add more doctors and nurses after angry parents
got tired of waiting and raided the pharmacy for medicine for their kids the
night before.
There was at least one report of violence to a nurse, and
police had to be called in to calm the crowd.
Tempers flared as the
hospital's patient load increased to the breaking point as the change in weather
contributed to a rise in childhood illnesses such as colds and
diarrhea.
Dozens of worried parents argued with medical staff and hospital
guards when hundreds of children were left waiting for hours for intravenous
saline drips, used extensively in China to replace lost fluids. The drips are
also considered by many people to be a general panacea for most ills.
"I
arrived about 3pm and thought those ahead would finish in a few hours. But when
evening came, they told me there were still more then 100 kids before mine,"
said a mother surnamed Li.
At about 7pm, an impatient father complained to a
nurse on duty and went on to physically assault the young woman, according to
witnesses. She was not injured, but the dispute escalated, and some parents
broke into the pharmacy to search for medication for their children.
The
turmoil was controlled half an hour later after the hospital called police and
brought in more medical staff. The saline drip service was suspended for about
25 minutes and then restarted; however, patients had to wait additional hours
for staff to check the medicines that had been disturbed.
Many parents said
they waited more than five hours.
"We were so worried about our child, and
the only word from a nurse was to wait," said a mother who took her son in for
fever treatment.
Parents said the hospital should put more nurses in the
saline room, where there are four in the daytime and two at night.
"As a
leading pediatric hospital, it should have arranged for more medical staff to
handle such a large number of patients," the mother said.
Administrators said
their facility is the only city-based pediatric hospital in Minhang District and
is handling 4,500 to 5,000 out-patients every day at present. Some 800 to 900
children receive saline drips each day, and 500 are done at night.
The
hospital's Luo Weifen said the medical center has added an out-patient clinic
between 5:30pm and 9:30pm and is requiring doctors and nurses to work longer
hours, among other measures.
But administrators said that the patient load
still exceeds the hospital's treatment capacity.
"Since we moved from the
downtown to Minhang District early this year, we've been crowded with patients
day and night," Luo said.
"We've had at least 13 medical staff beaten by
patient's families in the past couple months. We fully understand the parents'
worries and will better arrange our personnel, especially at
night."
Officials also suggested that parents take their children to
community or district-based hospitals for minor illnesses.
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