Covid treatment fees: One afternoon, when I went to the area where patients had recovered. I heard a voice calling: “Doctor, doctor, don’t you recognize me?”.

I comeback. Ah, Ms. Phuong, the old patient of the 16th bed – the severe patient’s room I was in charge of, is now about to be discharged. I remember the previous week, she was lying flat on high-flow oxygen. Her body was sweaty, sad and worried, always saying: “hungry”, “thirst”, “drink water”. To the point that I thought she was a foreigner.

In the villa in thao dien for rent area, there are many Taiwanese and Chinese people hospitalized, who know a few words of Vietnamese. I had to coax her to “try to eat and drink to gain strength”. But she recovered. She was very neat, her face was rosy and fresh, and she said in one breath: “Thank you, doctor, I would have died without a doctor yesterday”.

Another sister, lying on the bed outside, obediently followed the doctor’s advice. Saying lying on her side was lying on her side, saying that lying on her stomach was lying on her stomach, not complaining like some other patients. In the morning, I measured it for her, found that the blood oxygen was very good, SpO2 up 98%. I reduced the dose of breathing oxygen, a while later came back to measure, still 98%. “I’m much better now, I’ll move to a lighter room tomorrow, I’ll be back soon,” I said. She smiled and whispered: I’ll be home soon, doctor, I’m so glad. The joy of the person who escaped death was so impressive, she herself did not believe that one day she would return.

During the past month, every night, lying down on the bed, I secretly prayed that tomorrow I would see the patients in my ward again, I could write the medical records and send them to the light department with my own hands.

I know those who are lucky to escape the pandemic, in their memory will be the shadows of blue shirts, white shirts with unknown faces, only the voices of North – Central – South, being considerate to them in the most difficult time. . The epidemic subsided, we also brought a lot of love to the North. That is compatriotism.

The anti-epidemic trip gave me mixed and indescribable emotions. If I glimpse, I see, before death everyone is equal, rich as well as poor. But in my heart there is still something wrong, that all resources in society have not been mobilized.

The work of taking care of Covid-19 patients is very overwhelming. After only one night, in the morning, we entered the ward, which was literally flooded with waste. It takes a lot of work to keep the patient clean for a while. Many patients could not stand the steamy scene, constantly calling the doctor.

It’s just a simple cleaning job like changing diapers and bed sheets. The work of taking care of and carrying out medical orders is still a lot of work: daily oral hygiene, then administering medication, giving medicine on time and with the right technique. Hygiene and care of the gastric and urinary tract catheters. Even higher is changing the dressing, sterilizing the central venous catheter, then turning to anti-ulcer massage, back patting to restore respiratory function…

If the patient has to be put on a ventilator, the care is multiplied. In my department, in normal times, if there is a ventilator patient, two nurses who specialize in taking care of a ventilated patient, not to mention the doctor has to turn around every now and then. The most vivid example is when we treated patient number 91 – a Scottish pilot – brothers in the industry often joked, 91 people worked hard for nothing. And now, many times a person takes care of 91. So now people are very afraid to put on a ventilator.

However, my friend, who is working at a private hospital, has just announced the good news, one of his patients has just been weaned off the ventilator, “withdrawn the breathing tube, alive!”. Asked if there is any secret, he said: “There is no secret, only taking care. Many people take care of one person, it takes a lot of hard work to pass”.

That said that public health is really overloaded, the state is overloaded, it needs the contribution of all resources in society to solve it. For private healthcare to participate in Covid treatment officially, with an open and transparent policy, and with supervision, is a solution, instead of letting the public health take the whole burden.

I believe this is a solution to mobilize resources among the people – from both the supply and demand sides, so that public health can focus the rest of its energy on treating people in difficult circumstances, who cannot afford to hire medical care services. own treatment.

If it is allowed to collect fees for treating Covid patients, how much should private hospitals be charged?

In my opinion, because the treatment of Covid patients is characterized by a high risk of infection, medical staff wear protective gear, so their productivity decreases, not to mention other conditions in terms of equipment and drugs, so the Fees may be higher than the usual price list. The cost of Covid treatment services of a private hospital may be reasonably higher than that of a public hospital, if the patient has a Health Insurance card, the insurance payment will still be deducted.

Thus, I estimate that people with Covid treatment fees being treated at a private hospital will have to spend a few hundred thousand more a day if the disease is moderate, staying in a normal room, to several million a day if the disease is serious and must be in the intensive care room. . The attached condition to ensure fairness is a set of transparent policies of the Ministry of Health.

Some will say that private collection of fees for Covid-19 treatment will create inequality in society. I think, there is no absolute equality in society, do we accept it, improve policies to contribute to its adjustment to create more equality.

The pandemic still has great uncertainty, so from now on, we must proactively design a society that can live with the epidemic, actively finding new transformations instead of waiting for everything to happen. go back like before.

The pandemic also helps us strive to find more effective and humane ways of working. Bringing private healthcare in is to let a group of high-income patients willing to pay for Covid treatment costs themselves, this is also a way to help create equity for those who do not have a lot of money.