Government's Full Response to Medical Gaps: "Activate Public Emergency Medical Services, Allow Telemedicine"

On the 19th, amid growing concerns of a 'medical crisis' due to collective resignations by residents at the five major domestic hospitals and widespread opposition from doctors, Prime Minister Han Deok-soo is speaking at a ministerial meeting on doctors' collective action held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

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As the medical community, including residents and medical students, has announced collective action in opposition to the plan to increase the number of medical school admissions, the government has launched an all-out response. On the morning of the 19th, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo held a meeting with relevant ministers and reaffirmed the government's commitment to expanding medical school admissions, stating that if collective action occurs, emergency medical services at public healthcare institutions will be activated and telemedicine will be fully permitted.

In his opening remarks at the 'Ministerial Meeting on Response to Doctors' Collective Action' held at the Government Complex Seoul, Prime Minister Han said, "If collective action intensifies, minimizing public inconvenience caused by medical service gaps is of utmost importance." According to the medical community, residents at five major hospitals in Seoul submitted collective resignation letters on the same day and plan to stop working from the 20th. Medical students are also expected to participate in a strike on the same day.

The government decided to activate an emergency medical system in preparation for the possibility of a medical service gap caused by the medical community's collective action. First, emergency rooms at 409 emergency medical institutions nationwide will operate 24 hours a day, prioritizing emergency and critical surgeries. Prime Minister Han emphasized, "We will establish a system to ensure that care is provided mainly in essential medical specialties." The emergency medical system at public healthcare institutions will also be activated. The weekday operating hours of 97 public hospitals will be extended, and they will provide medical services on weekends and public holidays as well.

In particular, the government announced plans to expand telemedicine, a sensitive issue for the medical community. Prime Minister Han stated, "Telemedicine will be fully permitted during the period of collective action to ensure that patients with chronic and mild conditions do not face difficulties accessing medical institutions." He urged, "Relevant ministries should thoroughly check the emergency medical preparedness of each hospital and provide clear and sufficient information to the public about medical institutions that are open and telemedicine services available."

Despite strong opposition from the medical community, Prime Minister Han emphasized that increasing medical school admissions is an unavoidable decision. He said, "The plan to increase medical school admissions is part of a larger medical reform aimed at saving collapsing regional healthcare and essential medical services, and ensuring that the public can receive high-quality medical services. It is a decision made after careful consideration by the government, experts, and universities."

On the 8th, medical staff moving at a university hospital in Seoul [Image source=Yonhap News]

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He continued, "Advanced countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, which have more clinical doctors per capita than we do, are increasing the number of doctors on a larger scale and earlier than we are." He added, "In a situation where aging is progressing most rapidly in the world and medical demand is sharply rising, if doctors are not sufficiently increased, regional and essential medical fields will not be able to endure for long and will collapse." Prime Minister Han promised to drastically improve working conditions for residents and enhance the quality of medical education to ensure that the medical community does not suffer from the increase in medical school admissions.

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