Da Nang Oncology Hospital strives to solve overload

The Da Nang Oncology Hospital was approved by the Department of Health for 650 beds, but in reality, in recent years, the number of cancer patients has been increasing continuously, at times the number of inpatients exceeded 1,000, causing the hospital to often fall into a state of overload.

In addition, after Circular No. 01/2025 of the Ministry of Health took effect, the number of patients coming to the hospital for examination and treatment increased.

Patients lie on folding beds for treatment

In recent days, many departments of the Da Nang Oncology Hospital have been overloaded, forcing many patients to lie on beds arranged along the hallways and common areas for treatment.

According to hospital leaders, the sudden increase in the number of patients often occurs after long holidays, holidays, Tet, and summer, and almost all departments are overloaded. Therefore, the demand for hospital beds in internal medicine departments is always high, causing great pressure on arranging treatment and comprehensive care for patients.

Lying on a folding bed placed in the hallway, patient NQ (born in 1968, residing in Da Nang city) said: “I have been treated here for more than 7 times. Many times when I went to the hospital for treatment, I had to lie on a folding bed placed in the hallway, along the way, which was very inconvenient.”

Patient BTC (residing in Quang Ngai province) said: “There are not enough rooms, not enough beds, we have to lie on folding beds placed along the hallway or common living area. This is both inconvenient and tiring.”

Sharing the same sentiment, patient TCN (born in 1962, residing in Da Nang city) shared: “This is the first time I have come to the Oncology Hospital for treatment. Because there are no more beds available in the room, I had to lie outside in the hallway for treatment. It is very inconvenient to have to lie on a temporary bed like this while having a blood transfusion. I hope the hospital will be expanded so that unfortunate people with serious illnesses like us can have a convenient place for treatment.”

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, Director of the Da Nang Oncology Hospital, said that the hospital’s biggest pressure is that its current facilities are not enough to meet the increasing demand for examination and treatment of patients. Overcrowding has led to a shortage of hospital beds, and patients have to lie on beds arranged along the hallway to ensure they do not have to share beds.

Implement solutions to reduce overload

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung shared: In cancer treatment, each patient needs to be closely monitored and given comprehensive care, both physically and mentally. However, as the number of patients increases and the infrastructure fails to meet the demand, it will lead to many difficulties and inconveniences in the monitoring and treatment process. Although patients are very sympathetic, medical staff cannot help but feel heartbroken when seeing patients in pain from cancer treatment and in cramped conditions.

“As the leading cancer unit in the region, the hospital always strives to continuously improve its diagnostic and treatment capacity, helping patients access advanced treatment methods locally. At the same time, it has implemented many measures to reduce overload; shorten patient waiting time; provide high-tech services, after-hours pathology and establish a day treatment area,” said Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung.

Since the beginning of 2025, the Oncology Hospital has invested in adding many modern machinery systems such as MRI, CT, endoscopy, etc. to replace old and degraded equipment as well as contribute to improving the quality of diagnosis and treatment.

The hospital also actively applies new technologies to help shorten intervention time, detect diseases earlier and increase treatment effectiveness, bringing many practical benefits to patients.

“The hospital has also coordinated with the Management Board of Investment Projects for Construction of Civil, Industrial and Technical Infrastructure Works in Da Nang to propose an investment project to build a new 400-bed inpatient treatment block and upgrade and renovate the existing Oncology Hospital; thereby creating a convenient and airy treatment space for patients,” said Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung.