Ho Chi Minh City’s Health Ministry assessed that 3 problems in purchasing equipment had been removed, while hospital leaders said there were still difficulties such as not setting prices and repairing broken machines.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department, Decree 07 and Resolution 30 have just been issued, which have cleared many bottlenecks in the purchase of equipment for the city’s public medical facilities. However, there are still many obstacles that have not been directed to be removed, so hospitals are confused when implementing.
According to Ms. Dinh Thi Liu, an expert from the Ministry of Health, Decree 07 and Resolution 30 only provide guidance on equipment, while non-advice packages such as repair, maintenance, warranty… are not mentioned. Therefore, the units do not know how to repair large packages of machinery and equipment.
This is also what several hospital leaders in Ho Chi Minh City said during the training session on the content of Resolution 30, on March 6. doctor. Dr. Van Van Bao, director of 115 People’s Hospital, said the new regulations did not remove the difficulty of repairing damaged medical equipment. Since the reform must be included in the five-year medium-term plan, the investment policy proposal report must be submitted to the relevant authorities for approval by the city council in accordance with the order of the Public Investment Law and Decree 40.
“The issue of the order to repair these devices, whether there are problems or not, still needs to be reviewed,” said Mr. Bao, adding that the new regulation removes the difficulty when there are not enough three quotations but no competent authority. Have primary responsibility for, supervise and promulgate price regulations. “Does the supplier company offer a price close to the import price, do you quote the price you import directly from abroad, how do you get the quotation so as not to attribute the hospital to the price, the price imported from What is the percentage of profits? Do foreign companies have?” Mr. Bao asked Series of questions He said that there must be specific regulations in this regard.
Dr. Chow Van Dinh, director of Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic Hospital, shared the same opinion, and said that machinery repair still must comply with Circular 68, Decree 14 and 15 and the Bidding Law, which requires coordination. Many parties, so it will be difficult in the long run.
Likewise, Mr. Dinh said it is necessary for some agencies to take responsibility for setting the price to protect those who make purchases and bids. What makes hospital leaders so afraid is the problems with prices, inspections and inspections of the government inspectorate later. “Later, the inspectors and auditors all focused on the import prices and wondered why they were so expensive, if there was trade, but the hospital could not figure out these things,” Dinh said.
This opinion was presented by Dr. “It will be very difficult for the hospital to check, inspect and finish later,” agrees Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Executive Director of Thu Duc City Hospital. He was worried that the supplier only listed the price of the machine, but did not list the components, so it was difficult to know the exact import price and the actual price set by the companies.
Regarding the common concerns of hospital leaders, HCMC Health Department Director Tang Zhi Thong suggested that if necessary, the department will request the Ministry of Health in writing. Ms. Liu suggested that hospitals should be flexible in purchasing chemicals on demand, to avoid having to send test samples or not being able to do so.
In response to VnExpress, National Assembly delegate Pham Khanh Phuong Lan said that the newly released documents are a positive step in removing bottlenecks and correcting insufficient regulations. However, this is only a temporary solution. In the long run, it is necessary to identify the root causes of unreasonable points of policy to completely eliminate them.
According to Ms. Lan, the government needs to revise the regulation on automatic renewal of distribution numbers and import permits, otherwise difficulties will continue by the end of 2024 when the time to extend the circulation number is only until December 31/2024. In addition, Decree 07 does not require advertising the price of medical equipment on the Ministry of Health portal. However, the Bidding Law, Circular 58 and Circular 68 of the Ministry of Finance still requires three quotations while some equipment is usually made by only one manufacturer. Not to mention there is no way to monitor the credibility of quotes.
In addition, the repair of damaged medical equipment is still required to report on investment policy proposals and submit them to all levels in accordance with the Tenders Law, Circular No. 68 issued by the Ministry of Finance and Circular No. 15 issued by the Ministry of Health.
The Bidd Incorrect.
He proposed to give clear autonomy to the unit with a package of limits for the number and volume of illnesses of patients in public hospitals to control losses in the purchase of equipment, as occurs in private hospitals.
On March 3rd and 4th, the government issued Decree 07 and Resolution 30 (immediately implemented) respectively, which basically resolved the medical supply crisis for the foreseeable future. The Ministry of Health is accelerating the development of implementation guidelines, which will be published shortly.
