Shenzhen's public hospitals cut their medical service charges by an average of 8.1 percent from Sunday, after long-term public complaints over their high cost.

The new price scheme is expected to save patients 392 million yuan (US$51 million) a year, according to the municipal pricing bureau.

Patients welcomed the price cuts, but said they had to wait in long queues Sunday to pay medical fees because the hospitals were not well prepared for the changes. The biggest price cuts were for medical checkups.

When Mr. Wei saw the bill for his father's medical checkup at No. 2 People's Hospital on Sunday, he could not believe his eyes. He used to pay about 210 yuan (US$27) for the checks, but this time he only needed to pay 85 yuan. "I was happily surprised," he said.

At Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital, Ms. Xu said she wished she could have taken her brain scan later. "If I did it today, I would only have had to pay 350 yuan, but Wednesday I paid 450 yuan," she said.

But hospital staff were not well prepared for the changes, patients complained. Several public hospitals had long queues at their cashiers' counters and it took some cashiers about 20 minutes to deal with one payment.

Ms. Huang waited for more than an hour to pay for her stomach checkup Sunday. But when it finally came to her turn, she did not know how much to pay. The cashier's price list did not include the type of checkup she wanted. She was finally asked to pay 200 yuan in deposit, and the cashier promised to return any extra money she had paid after she had checked the price.

"The situation was a mess," said Huang. "Many patients cannot pay, and many quarreled with hospital staff because of the wait."

A Mr. Zhang said that he could not use his social security card to pay for his medical checkups. "I was told to come a few days later, because the social security fund authority was still adjusting its system," said Zhang.

A hospital spokesperson said the hospital had not been given enough time to prepare for the changes. "The new prices were publicized June 29, but the new computer software was only delivered the day before," he said, adding that the price adjustment involved 2,132 items.

Examinations requiring large equipment were especially costly and some doctors tend to ask patients to take unnecessary expensive examinations to make money.

Reducing medical costs is one of the government's top 10 priorities this year unveiled by Mayor Xu at the annual session of the local people's congress in March to improve residents' welfare.

Shenzhen's health bureau announced in April that hospitals were to drop their 15-percent markup on drugs to reduce residents' medical costs.

In China, hospitals are allowed to add a 15-percent markup on drugs.

(Shenzhen Daily July 3, 2007)