Prime Minister Han: "Discussion on Allowing Dual Practice for Doctors to Strengthen Emergency Patient Response"

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is attending the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on responses to medical professionals' collective actions at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 1st. He is urging residents and specialists from major hospitals who recently decided to stop working to return to their duties.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated on the 1st, "To strengthen the response capabilities for emergency patients, we will discuss cooperation plans with universities and hospitals to ensure that doctors wishing to work concurrently at the 119 Emergency Medical Situation Center and the Regional Emergency Medical Situation Room can receive swift approval for dual employment."

He also emphasized communication with the National Assembly to complete medical reform, regarding the agreement between President Yoon Seok-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on increasing medical school admissions on the 29th, saying, "This reflects the support and aspirations of the people."

At the 'Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for Doctors' Collective Action' meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon, Prime Minister Han said, "The government is continuously strengthening the emergency medical system to ensure that no patient is neglected, focusing on the treatment of severe and emergency patients."

He added, "We have newly hired 651 doctors and 976 nurses for emergency medical care, and are actively supporting over 10,000 nursing support staff to operate stably by providing educational programs through the Nursing Association."

Furthermore, he said, "We are immediately improving regulations in the medical field, such as allowing private practitioners to provide treatment in emergency rooms of other medical institutions, and permitting specialists at regional trauma centers to also treat patients in emergency rooms and inpatient wards outside their centers."

Prime Minister Han also stated, "The President and the leader of the main opposition party have had long discussions on national issues, particularly agreeing on increasing medical school admissions and medical reform." He added, "The government will communicate sufficiently with the National Assembly during the medical reform process, and to fulfill the medical reform desired by the people, we are willing to open our hearts and listen to opinions from anyone at any time."

According to the government and medical circles, during the summit meeting with President Yoon on the 29th, Lee Jae-myung expressed, "Medical reforms such as expanding medical school quotas are essential tasks, and our Democratic Party will actively cooperate."

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, are taking a commemorative photo after the summit meeting held on the 29th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

Prime Minister Han explained that 32 medical schools nationwide, whose quotas have increased, have decided on their admission numbers for the 2025 academic year and submitted them to the University Education Council by the previous day, saying, "The University Education Council plans to announce the aggregated admission numbers tomorrow."

Earlier, the government accepted proposals from some national university presidents, allowing universities to autonomously decide their admission quotas within a range of 50% to 100% for the 2025 academic year only.

Prime Minister Han emphasized, "Although the final approval process by the University Education Council remains, the government will do its best to support the preparation of educational conditions such as personnel and facilities so that medical schools can properly educate the increased number of students."

He mentioned that although weekly closures occurred at several university hospitals due to doctors' collective actions, fortunately, the feared large-scale medical chaos did not happen, and said, "On behalf of the people and patients, I deeply thank all the medical staff who have protected the frontlines."

However, he expressed regret, saying, "Another group of hospital professors has announced a closure for this coming Friday, which is truly unfortunate," and requested, "Medical school professors should continue to stay by the patients as they have done so far, and residents and medical students should now return. Please resume normal activities."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.