Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC, 4th April. According to news media reports on Wednesday the telemedicine services have been extended to all hospitals since February 23 to cope with the doctors’ labor action, but community health centres were excluded.
The South Korean government on Wednesday allowed community health centres to provide remote clinical services via video or phone appointments, amid disruptions to public health services at major hospitals for more than six weeks due to a mass walkout by junior doctors, a senior official said.
Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters “From today, contact-free treatment institutions are expanded to public health centres and their branch offices”.
Park said that there are 246 public health centres and 1,341 branch offices in South Korea.
Over 12,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since February 20, with medical professors have submitted resignations in support of the walkout.
Medical professors, who are senior doctors at major hospitals began cutting their working hours on Monday to cope with growing fatigue caused by the protracted walkout by junior doctors.
The report said to cope with the hike in the number of medical students, the government also plans to increase the number of medical professors by 1,000.
Mr. Park said that universities are advised to submit their opinions to the government by next Monday on how many more professors will be needed.
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