Reprieve for Mongkutwattana cardiac patients
Mongkutwattana General Hospital will be allowed to provide specialised heart surgery for patients under the universal healthcare scheme for one more year although it has not yet fully complied with new staffing criteria.
The hospital has met all the requirements except for hiring at least one full-time cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon.
“We have decided to allow the use of a part-time surgeon for one more year for hospitals that have already provided such services under our scheme before,” Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, who chairs the National Health Security Office (NHSO) board, said on Thursday.
The move aims to minimise the effects on heart patients who have already been scheduled to receive percutaneous coronary interventions at Mongkutwattana General Hospital.
If the NHSO had refused to be flexible, Mongkutwattana General Hospital would not be able to perform percutaneous coronary interventions for patients exercising their right to free treatments under the universal healthcare scheme starting on October 1.
Over the next three months, there are between 40 and 50 patients scheduled for such surgeries at the hospital.
