With summer vacation comes illness. Every year the number of patients at Nanjing Children’s Hospital reaches its peak during the summer months; this year amounting to around 7800 patients a day. There is an endless flow of people moving in the hall of outpatient department like a stream, with the clamour of parents, doctors and volunteers, accompanied by the cries of the children.
While other children’s hospitals have also seen the upsurge in the number of patients during this time, Nanjing Children’s Hospital, due to its good reputation, sees a majority of the foot traffic. In the comparatively small city of Changzhou, the local Children’s hospital receives 1600 patients a day on average. It is crowded, but far away from the overloaded reality of the Nanjing Children’s hospital. Unsurprisingly, the resources of Chinese hospitals are unbalanced, causing a huge gap between big cities and small cities.
Cause of the Chaos
According to Chinese principles of medicine, children are more likely to catch a cold in summer due to the exposure to the air conditioner, cold drinks and ice cream. Food poisoning is also prevalent because food easily goes off with such a high temperatures outside and substandard hygiene and cooling methods. Plus some parents want to make good use of the summer holiday as a period during which to let their children have long-term treatment, which is not possible during school time. Second, due to the Chinese “family” culture and one child policy, both parents, or even two or four grandparents will accompany one child to the hospital. Since large importance is place on the reputation, they will make their way to the best hospital no matter how far it is.
Mr. Zhang, an employee of the transportation industry in Changzhou, explains how Nanjing is even seeing influx from other cities. When his child got eczema, a visit to the Changzhou Children’s Hospital rendered no results, the prescribed medicine being ineffective. The logical next step was to visit the Nanjing Children’s Hospital where the problem was successfully taken care of. It is no surprise then, that people within realistic range of Nanjing will come to the city as opposed to visiting their local hospitals. It is no wonder Nanjing’s hospitals are bursting at the seams.
Changzhou is one of the wealthiest cities in Jiangsu with comparatively high medical standards. The local Children’s Hospital was transformed from a more general hospital to a specialized hospital for children over the past few years. At around 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning, July 14th, a moderate number of parents with children are waiting in the line for the registration. It is a very different picture from the Nanjing Children’s Hospital. The longest waiting time is no more than 15 minutes, while in Nanjing it can be more than one hour. Only one third of the patients are from other places. However, in Nanjing, that number is considerably higher. Adding to the clog-up effect is the fact that, although many hospitals have implemented efficient measures directed at saving time such as online and self-registration systems, most parents have not yet come to grips with these changes.
Hexi Children’s Hospital – Dealing with the Overflow?
Hexi Children’s Hospital is another good option and could help alleviate the pressures on the city’s largest children’s clinic, yet still it loses out in competition with its mother branch, the Nanjing Children’s Hospital. By Chinese standards, it takes 5 to 7 years to cultivate a qualified doctor but the Hexi Branch of the Nanjing Children’s Hospital only opened its doors last year and is still under trial before its official opening at the end of 2015. It will take considerable time for this new hospital to provide mature medical staff and cooperation to satisfy those anxious parents. While the opening of the Hexi branch is a good sign that authorities are attempting to take off the pressure, it will be quite a while before the new location will be able to establish itself. We all wish one day children and their friends can go see a doctor more freely at any place, in any hospital.
