In Fujian Province, special breast-feeding rooms have been established in almost every hospital and first-aid center, which local health officials regard as an important milestone in the country's current reform of the hospital sector.

Like the banking and telecommunications industries, China's hospital sector used to be dominated by state-owned players who, without the fear of losing customers, paid little attention to their services.

However, since China opened the sector to private enterprise earlier this year as required by its membership of the World Trade Organization, market competition has become fiercer, forcing more state-run hospitals to cater to the needs of patients.

In the First Aid Center of Fujian Province, a special injection room has been set up for children. With colorful cartoons characters decorating the walls and floor, the ward looks more like a playground. While watching tropical fish swimming happily in a mini-aquarium, kids often forget their physical pain.

Notices posted inside the center's elevators forbid doctors from discussing patients' conditions in public.

"Casual discussions might breach the privacy of patients, and hurt their feelings," center vice director Wei Zhen explained.

"A truly good service should apply in every small respect, and must be guaranteed by a sound system and that requires more than just mutual understanding and respect," said Chen Qiuli, deputy head of the province's health bureau.

"Hospitals should not only save the critically ill or heal the wounded, they must also bear in mind the emotional needs of patients to help them recover quickly," said Chen.

In Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, message boards have been set up outside operating rooms where people record their greetings to their relatives or friends being operated on. In Hangzhou, hospital guides are available to help patients get through the formalities.

(Eastday.com March 20, 2003)