Patients die while searching for available hospitals amid medical vacuum

Social Affairs

Published: 18 Apr. 2024, 18:25 Updated: 18 Apr. 2024, 18:47

Patients die while searching for available hospitals amid medical vacuum

Rescue workers transport a patient at a university hospital in Seoul as mass walkout of medical trainees against the government's plan to increase the medical school admission quota continues for nearly two months. According to fire officials, a heart disease patient in her 60s living in South Gyeongsang was taken to a hospital in Busan after six nearby hospitals refused to accept her. She died six hours after she sought help through the 119 emergency rescue number. [NEWS1]

A patient in her 60s seeking help for chest pain in South Gyeongsang died last month while awaiting surgery after six nearby hospitals refused her admission, fire authorities said Wednesday.

The medical vacuum due to a prolonged walkout by junior doctors is causing delays for patients seeking treatment, occasionally leading to fatalities.

The woman called the 119 emergency hotline at 4:09 p.m. on March 31 after suffering chest pain while working in a farming field in Gimhae, South Gyeonsang, according to the Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department.

An emergency medical team arrived at the scene 14 minutes later and contacted six nearby hospitals more than 10 times for her admission, only to be rejected by all of them. They cited "no doctor available" or "too many patients" to explain their refusal.

Finally, 19 minutes later, one hospital 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) away from the accident site accepted the request.

After undergoing two and half hours of medical tests at the hospital, the patient was diagnosed with aortic dissection, a tear in the lining of the aortic vessel, which requires an immediate surgery.

She was then transferred to a university hospital in Busan at 8:20 p.m. to undergo surgery.

While preparing for the operation, she had a sudden cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m.

Prompt treatment is crucial for aortic dissection, as it has a mortality rate of 30 to 40 percent, according to the medical industry.

Transferring patients between Gimhae and Busan is common due to the cities' proximity. However, since the protest by trainee doctors began nearly two months ago, medical institutions have routinely refused admissions, according to an official from the fire department.

The patient's family reported her case to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which accepts reports on personal damages caused by the ongoing medical vacuum.

The grieving family expressed resentment, complaining that the shortage of medical trainees contributed to her death.

“It’s lamentable that the chances of her survival might have decreased due to the medical absence, although we cannot guarantee that she would have survived if she had been treated immediately,” the family said.

A Busan Metropolitan City spokesperson said they submitted the findings of the incident to the Health Ministry, who will decide whether the shortage of medical trainees was a possible cause of the situation.

While nothing has been confirmed about the exact cause of her death, some observers suggest that the denied transfer might have played a role.

The Korean Medical Association spoke on the matter, saying, “essential health services cannot be obtained unless people stop making doctors into criminals whenever we fail to save patients."

Her death is one of the latest cases of reported patient damage as the mass walkout of medical trainees against the government's plan to increase the medical school admission quota continues for nearly two months.

On March 26, a man in his 50s died six days after a surgery in Ulsan, following a five-hour search for a hospital willing to admit him for the treatment.

BY CHAE HYE-SEON, AHN DAE-HOON, WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]