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)