A third party mediating medical disputes will be established in
Shenzhen, Guangzhou-based Guangzhou Daily reported on Aug.
10. Sources from the Shenzhen Municipal Health Bureau unveiled
plans to work together with local judicial departments to set up an
independent firm – the Shenzhen Municipal Medical Disputes
Mediation Committee. The first of its kind in Guangdong Province, the committee will conduct
third party mediation for medical disputes.
Related departments in Shenzhen surveyed ten public hospitals
and six private hospitals at the end of 2006. In all 16 hospitals
medical staff had been assaulted and cursed due to medical
disagreements. According to statistics from the Shenzhen Medical
Association (SMA), medical technique appraisal cases have increased
over 70 percent in the past two years. Dozens of such disputes
occur annually in large hospitals; smaller hospitals experience
seven to eight cases a year.
Many patients and their families have adopted excessive measures
because they do not trust the medical accident appraisal system.
Thus, instead of solving disputes through legal means they often
took excessive actions against relevant
doctors.
Currently SMA is the only legal firm engaged in technical
appraisals of medical incidents in Shenzhen. For each incident, SMA
selects relevant specialists from its database to form an
appropriate group of appraisers. But because the SMA members are
primarily doctors, local citizens have little confidence in them,
claiming that it is no different than “brothers appraising each
other.”
According to the Shenzhen Health Bureau, the future organization
would subordinate neither to public health nor to judicial
departments. It would not come under any administrative
jurisdiction but remain completely independent. Funding sources may
come from government budgetary appropriations or from financial
institutions to which hospitals may place advance deposits.
Patients or their relatives should address the mediation
committee when seeking compensation from hospitals. The committee
will act as mediator between the two sides.
The Shenzhen Health Bureau is considering setting up similar
committees around the city. Anyone who bypasses the mediation
committee seeking compensation from hospitals will be legally
punished.
Opinions
Zhang Yuqiang, a member of the Shenzhen Committee of CPPCC
(Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference): It’s imperative to establish a third-party
consulting and mediating firm that acts as a go-between. By means
of non-litigation dispute solving, the mediation committee would
provide public welfare services to both medical organizations and
their patients, mitigating between any tense relationships that may
arise.
Miss Xie, a Shenzhen citizen living in Luohu District: It
is a good idea, but enforcing it is the key factor.
A committee composed of specialists and legal medical experts
has great authority; such a group has public credibility. An
independent mediation organization could be more efficient at
addressing medical disputes. This group could benefit patients, who
are in an inferior position compared to the hospitals.
Mr Liu, an employee in a sci-tech company in Nanshan
District: Mediation between hospitals and patients requires a
neutral third party. The committee’s true force and cohesiveness is
also crucial.
A previous case
In Shenzhen last December, a private hospital issued staff
members steel helmets so they could shield themselves from attacks
because after a patient died an angry group of people repeatedly
abused and assaulted them. The patient, a traffic accident victim,
suddenly started to suffocate and died while checking out of the
hospital after 17 days of treatment.
The hospital informed the victim’s relatives of the possible
cause of the death. They requested permission to do an autopsy. The
victim’s family refused.
Since then a group of people came to the hospital every day.
They have posted offensive notices. Several burned paper – a common
practice in China when people wish to commemorate the dead – and
abused doctors and nurses and even attacked them.
An official from the hospital reported that some of these
“troublemakers” had been seen doing the same things at other
hospitals. He speculated that they are hired hooligans.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, August 14, 2007)