Somsak” inspects Chaturat Hospital, Chaiyaphum, moves forward to increase personnel after MPs reflect severe shortage of doctors, reveals that 100,000 people have expressed their opinions on the draft of the Village Health Volunteer Act, with 90,000 people agreeing.
Mr. Somsak Thepsuthin, Minister of Public Health, made an official inspection visit to the Cabinet meeting outside the office in Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima Provinces. The first stop was Chaturas Hospital, Nong Bua Yai Subdistrict, Chaturas District, Chaiyaphum Province, where Mr. Anan Nakniyom, Governor of Chaiyaphum Province, Mr. Chengchai Chalerin, Chaiyaphum MP, Dr. Ochit Kiattikongchuchai, Chaiyaphum MP from Pheu Thai Party, Mr. Samrit Tantraphon, Chaiyaphum MP from Bhumjaithai Party, Mr. Watcharapol Tomornsak, Assistant Minister to the Ministry of Public Health, Mr. Phongsathon Pokpermdee, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, Mr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, Director-General of the Department of Thai Traditional and
Alternative Medicine, and Dr. Phuwadech Surakhot, Inspector of Health Region 9, joined in welcoming him.
Mr. Chengchai reflected on the problems in the area that in the past, the Minister of Public Health had never traveled to inspect Chaturas Hospital. Therefore, he was very happy that Mr. Somsak had traveled because he had a connection to this hospital. Since he was born here, he hoped that what the people of Chaiyaphum asked for in developing the hospital would be supported.
While Dr. Ochit said that what Chaiyaphum Province lacks is medical personnel. The appropriate ratio of doctors is 1:1,000, but in Chaiyaphum Province, it is 1:4,000, so it is considered that there are fewer doctors than the appropriate ratio. In developing hospitals in Chaiyaphum Province, he believes that it can increase potential to help relieve the burden of large hospitals in other provinces, reduce congestion, and prevent the people from having to travel far.
Mr. Somsak said that driving the work must listen to the voices of t
he MPs in the parliament. If the Chaiyaphum MP still reflects the problem, it means that the problem has not been solved well. But if he praises it, it means that we have improved. Therefore, the thing that reflects the lack of medical personnel must be urgently solved. He knew that Health Region 9 has a plan to provide 7 scholarships for specialist doctors to the hospital. This will allow the hospital to have specialist doctors to serve the people in the area. At the same time, he is trying to fix the balance in the Ministry of Public Health. Because there are 500,000 personnel, but the positions are not balanced, he is drafting a law that will remove the Ministry of Public Health personnel from the Civil Service Commission. The Ministry of Public Health is so engrossed in its work that it forgets to think about itself, which only thinks about the patients. So he came to help carry out the work.
Then, Mr. Somsak joined Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, to meet w
ith more than 1,000 people, including the people and village health volunteers, at the Pheu Thai Party Coordination Center in Chaiyaphum Province.
Mr. Suriya said that he was pleased to travel to inspect Chaiyaphum Province to follow up on progress and listen to a briefing on the implementation of important projects of agencies under the Ministry of Transport this time. In inspecting Chaiyaphum Province, he gave a policy to solve land transportation problems, especially the main routes that are still 2 lanes, which need to be developed into 4 lanes to accommodate the expansion of the community and support tourism as well.
While Mr. Somsak said that the VHWs in Chaiyaphum Province, numbering 26,099, play an important role in taking care of the health of the people. In the past, when people got sick, they had to go to the doctor. But today, we have VHWs who can provide initial advice or primary medical care, including telemedicine. VHWs will help reduce crowding in hospitals. Therefore, I am moving forward to
increase the potential of VHWs to the fullest by creating a VHW law for progress, stability, and sustainability. Currently, the draft of the VHW Act is in the process of receiving opinions from June 27 to July 11, 2024. Currently, 101,719 people have expressed their opinions, divided into 90,636 people agreeing, 9,596 people disagreeing, and 1,487 people having no clear opinions. After receiving opinions, all opinions will be revised before being submitted to the Cabinet and the House of Representatives, according to the next steps.
‘I have also moved forward to solve the debts of medical personnel and village health volunteers. At present, I know that approximately 35,000 medical personnel are in debt to the Student Loan Fund, and more than 5,000 of them are about to be sued. Therefore, I am moving forward to help solve their debts. On July 6-7, there will be a debt-solving event at the Ministry of Public Health to help ease the burden on medical personnel so that they will be encouraged to work hard to tak
e care of the health of our fellow citizens.’ 317 .-Thai News Agency
Source: Thai News Agency