Cracks in state health system

The resignation of six medical interns from a rural Bueng Kan provincial hospital this month has again raised concerns about systematic problems in state hospitals.

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While the Ministry of Public Health tried to allay public fears, saying the interns just wanted to relocate and further pursue higher education, others see the interns’ actions as the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem that includes doctors being saddled with patients, as was the case of Dr Nattakarn Chanthum who worked at Mae Sot Hospital in Tak province.

Dr Nattakarn recently resigned after working at rural state hospitals along the Thai-Myanmar border for 21 years.

The high number of patients and subsequent increase in workload that she had to deal with were compounded by an influx of Myanmar migrants and refugees.

In her case, the ratio of doctors per patient was 1:8,000 at her small state hospital.