广播听力: Mixed Reactions to Government's New Clinic Appointment Proposal

Here is one senior who managed to make a telephone appointment at the People's Hospital of Peking University.

He recalls just months before when people had to queue for hours to seek medical care.

"It was very time consuming, and patients had to get up very early to queue for medical treatment. For seniors like me, it was next to impossible. But this time, my wife made an appointment for me so I don't have to queue. It's very convenient."

But not all patients agree.

Here is a relative of one patient, who traveled from outside Beijing in order to be treated by a well known doctor.

"I got up at 3 this morning and when I arrived at the hospital at half past four, many people were already queuing.
So in the end I failed to register."

He says the appointment process for sought after hospitals or doctors often takes 4 to 5 days, which is more time than he had to spare, so he would rather queue.

According to official statistics, 120 million patients received medical treatment in Beijing in 2008. Of them, 30 to 40 percent are from outside Beijing. Most of them agree that it's difficult to register for treatment at the top hospitals.

Deng Xiaohong, a senior official with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Health, explains this situation.

"At present, patients are free to choose any hospitals or doctors they want to receive medical care. As a result many patients register for the No.1 doctor at the hospital even though they may only be suffering minor ailments. This results in a waste of medical resources."

Meanwhile, some medical agencies have been helping patients book appointments at top hospitals in return for large sums of money.

According to the government's new proposal, all such medical agencies will be terminated at the end of October this year. Some patients applaud this new move.

"Medical agencies often create problems because of over charging. The system should be scrapped."
However, some experts have expressed their disagreement.

Pan Xilong is a professor at Peking University.

"The number of appointments in some hospitals can be as little as ten patients per day. Despite this, these hospitals still need to use office facilities and staff to work the booking system. It's a waste of medical resources."

What's even worse, he says is that the lack of a unified platform will lead to medical information being limited within each hospital.

He suggests the creation of a regulated medical agency that can help patients collect medical information and seek to the best medical treatment.

Zhang Cheng, CRI News.