New family-doctor programme planned
About 130 family-doctor clinics will be set up over the next three years in Hanoi, HCM City, Can Tho, Haiphong and the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien-Hue, Khanh Hoa and Tien Giang.
Under the Ministry of Health’s family-doctor project, Hanoi and HCM City each will have 20-30 such clinics, and the remaining provinces 5-10 each by 2015.
The ministry plans to expand the model project nationwide after 2015.
Each family-doctor clinic will provide primary health care for up to 500 people and offer treatment for common diseases and ailments, rehabilitation services, and referrals to other hospitals.
Tran Quy Tuong, deputy head of the ministry’s Health Examination and Treatment Management Department, said the country now has about 500 trained family doctors at grassroots hospitals. However, most of them do not work as family doctors.
Some family-doctor clinics operate in Hanoi, HCM City, Haiphong, Danang, Thua Thien-Hue and Khanh Hoa, but they do not offer the full services that such clinics typically offer.