China to tighten management of doctors

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-10 22:56

BEIJING: China's Ministry of Health will step up efforts to improve the management of the doctors in the country to safeguard people's health.

"The management of doctors is of great importance to the quality and safety of medical service as well as to the people's health and safety," said health ministry spokesman Mao Qun' an on Tuesday.

China promulgated a law on licensed doctors in 1998 and the health ministry worked out rules of examinations for licensing doctors in the next year. Since then, the ministry had carried out 11 national examination.

Mao said the ministry would make more efforts to implement the law and do a better job in regulating qualification exams and registration of doctors. The ministry would also strive to inspect the practice of doctors and crack down upon illegal medical practice.

A recent case of medical practice had made headlines in the papers and websites over the last week. Xiong Zhuowei, a professor with the Peking University, died of pulmonary failure after undergoing spinal surgery in a hospital affiliated with the university at the age of 49 on January 31, 2006.

Her husband, Wang Jianguo, a professor of economics at Peking University, filed a lawsuit against the hospital claiming some medical staff involved in his wife's operation were still students at the time, who were not allowed to practice medicine according to law.

Peking University First Hospital has refuted the charge.

The Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court issued a first-instance ruling in July that the hospital should pay Xiong's family compensation of 700,000 yuan ($102,941).

But Wang appealed to Beijing Higher People's Court, demanding the medical treatment be recognized as "illegal".

The "incident" attracted great attention from the public and the medical workers but there was a difference in focus between the two, said Mao.

"Students of medical school are future doctors and they are required to be interns in hospitals in their last phase of learning," said Mao.

"For the growth of every future doctor, we should understand and support the work done by the medical students," he added.