A consultative workshop on hospital autonomy, the quality of hospitalservices and management took place in Hanoi on December 16, with bothdomestic and international experts in attendance.

Prior to1989, all public hospitals in Vietnam were highly subsidised by theState, offering medical check-ups and treatment to the public for free.

As the country entered the renovation (doi moi) stage,hospitals were allowed to charge patients a portion of treatmentexpenses and spend it on improving operations. Later, hospitalsgradually shifted from merely performing the tasks assigned by the Stateto providing services in order to exist.

In line with thistrend, the government issued a decree in April 2006 providing for theautonomy and self-responsibility in terms of task performance,organisational apparatus, payroll and finance of public non-businessunits, including hospitals.

According to head of the HealthMinistry’s Planning and Finance Department Nguyen Nam Lien, eight yearsafter the decree’s promulgation, 8 out of 39 hospitals under themanagement of the Health Ministry have become self-reliant financiallywhile 5 others are still relying on the State budget for regularactivities.

Thanks to autonomy, many public hospitals haverestructured their apparatus, mobilised capital for human resourcesdevelopment and equipment procurement.

However, it alsoexposes drawbacks, including the unnecessary use of hi-tech equipmentthat costs patients a lot of expenses.

A representative fromthe Policy and Health Care Management Faculty at Japan’s Keio Universityshared the experience of Japanese hospitals, saying that public andprivate health establishments should offer services for similar ratesand they should be treated on equal terms.

Participants alsoexamined lessons from China and some Vietnamese hospitals which havesuccessfully followed the autonomy system.

The workshop was co-hosted by the Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation.-VNA