Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, said that, fundamentally, the regulations and guidelines related to the procurement and bidding of medicines and medical supplies in recent times have resolved some previous difficulties. Some regulations are even a significant step forward, such as the requirement to purchase goods at the lowest price. The new regulations, which include criteria for quality and origin, have helped the hospital select good, genuine products at reasonable prices while complying with the law.
According to Mr. Hung, the most difficult period for the hospital is over, the bidding processes have yielded results, and the hospital has already contacted the suppliers.
Regarding medication, Mr. Hung affirmed that there is no shortage of drugs for patients, but the common problem in many public hospitals is the lack of drugs that have no substitutes (bioequivalent drugs) and cannot be procured.
"Albumin and Gamma Globulin are examples because during the bidding process, no company or distributor participated, so we couldn't purchase them. Meanwhile, these drugs are desperately needed in clinical practice, especially for critically ill patients. At Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, many organ transplant patients require these drugs, but the inpatient pharmacy doesn't have them, so we're forced to buy them from outside. Previously, the shortage of inpatient pharmacy was covered through the hospital's pharmacy system," Mr. Hung explained.
Regarding the concerns of many people about having to wait a long time to be scheduled for surgery, Mr. Hung said that the objective difficulties faced by Viet Duc Friendship Hospital are also the difficulties faced by many other medical examination and treatment units. The hospital has also analyzed the subjective causes and proactively taken steps to adjust.
"We are a tertiary hospital, receiving patients from all over, but we have a limited number of beds. When supply and demand change, the waiting time for surgery has to be extended. All the hospital's operating rooms have to operate at full capacity, and doctors have to perform surgeries until 9 or 10 pm. I believe that the quality of medical care must be respected; we cannot compromise quality for the sake of speed or quantity," said Dr. Hung.
To regulate the scheduling of surgeries for patients, Dr. Duong Duc Hung said that hospitals will only begin preparing documents for procurement in May 2024, when the circular guiding the purchase of new drugs is issued.
Mr. Hung cited the example of surgical hospitals like Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, where anesthesia is an indispensable drug. Each day, the hospital performs approximately 300 scheduled surgeries and 30-40 emergency surgeries, meaning the demand for anesthesia is very high. Without anesthesia, not only scheduled surgeries but also emergency surgeries cannot be performed.
Having been delayed in participating in the bidding process (a system-wide delay), the hospital is unable to borrow anesthetic drugs from other sources. Therefore, in parallel with working day and night to obtain the bidding documents, the hospital is forced to regulate its drug supply to avoid interruptions while waiting for the drugs to be secured.
Therefore, for patients requiring immediate surgery, the hospital will still ensure their care is provided. However, some other surgeries, such as screw removal or cosmetic surgery, may be postponed.
Regarding the difficulties faced by pharmacies in public hospitals due to new regulations on bidding and procurement, Mr. Duong Duc Hung said: "Currently, pharmacies in all public hospitals are facing significant difficulties."
Pharmacies not only sell medicine but also medical supplies. For example, when a patient is discharged from the hospital, they may need a wooden crutch, but establishing technical criteria for this supply to be used in bidding is very difficult.
Furthermore, bandages, antiseptic gauze, and nutritional milk for patients must be managed by the pharmaceutical system and sold only in pharmacies, not in the canteen.
The Viet Duc Friendship Hospital's stance is that it does not support purchasing drugs from outside sources for use in the inpatient system, as the hospital cannot control the quality of those drugs. If the drugs have been procured through bidding and imported via the hospital's pharmacy system, and the pharmacy is part of that system, then the hospital is responsible for the quality of those drugs.
Therefore, current procurement regulations are creating difficulties in meeting the purchasing needs of non-inpatient or partially inpatient patients.
"We have reported this difficulty to the competent authorities and hope that the feedback from the institution, not only Viet Duc Friendship Hospital but also many other public hospitals, will be quickly addressed to improve the quality of service for patients," Mr. Hung said.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/giam-doc-benh-vien-huu-nghi-viet-duc-noi-gi-ve-phan-anh-thieu-thuoc-post822407.html
