“75% of small dental clinics lack specialists… Concerns about increased avoidance due to search and seizure”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seongho Seong = Approximately 7 out of 10 pediatric and adolescent hospitals in Korea were found to be complaining of a shortage of specialists.

This is due to residents' avoidance of pediatric and adolescent departments, and the site argued that this avoidance will be further strengthened due to the police raid and search of the pediatric emergency room at the end of last month.

According to a survey of 71 member hospitals across the country conducted by the Korean Association of Pediatric Hospitals on the 10th from the 29th of last month to the 4th of this month, 74.6% (53 hospitals) responded that there is a shortage of specialists necessary to maintain medical treatment.

On the other hand, only 25.4% (18 places) responded that there were enough specialists.

When asked why they were unable to fill 53 hospitals that were said to be lacking (duplicate responses), the majority, or 86.8%, answered that there were no applicants.

This was followed by ‘Applicants are reluctant to work at night, on holidays, or in hospital’ (71.7%), and ‘It is difficult for applicants to afford the salary requested’ (58.5%).

Among the hospitals that participated in the survey, all but three appeared to have attempted to recruit pediatric and adolescent specialists within the past three years. However, only 19 (27.9%) of these places hired within 6 months.

In addition, 27.9% took 6 months to less than 1 year to get hired, and 11.8% took more than 1 year. There were 32.4% of places that had not yet hired people.

About 7 out of 10 hospitals that attempted to recruit either took more than 6 months to hire a specialist or have not yet done so.

The 313 full-time specialists at these hospitals were most often in their 40s (34.5%), 50s (31.6%), 60s (16.6%), 30s (16.0%), and 70s or older (1.3%). The association's analysis is that there are fewer specialists in their 30s than in their 60s, making generational change difficult.

43.7% of hospital directors who participated in the survey responded that they work more than 52 hours a week. The majority of responses (96.8%) said that the reason was ‘to maintain nighttime, holiday, and inpatient treatment.’

When asked whether they had reduced or stopped treatment due to a shortage of specialists in the past three years (duplicate responses), 60.6% of hospitals answered yes. Among these, reduction or cessation of nighttime treatment was the most common at 33.8%.

When asked how long they would be able to maintain current medical treatment (including nights, holidays, and hospitalization) if the current manpower and hiring conditions continue, more than half (52.1%) answered 'less than 4 years'.

Among the 49 (duplicate) opinions freely written about what they wanted from the government and associations to secure medical personnel, the improvement in the price (price set by the health insurance) was the most common at 35. In addition, there were ‘financial support for labor costs and securing human resources’ (8 cases), ‘expansion of residents and specialists’ (7 cases), and ‘protection of medical staff and provision of legal safety measures’ (5 cases).

Choi Yong-jae, president of the association, said, "I believe that residents' avoidance of pediatrics and adolescents after the arrest and acquittal of other medical staff in the case of the death of a newborn at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital led to a shortage of hiring specialists. I am concerned that this phenomenon will accelerate due to the search and seizure of the pediatric emergency center last September."

He added, “The pediatric and adolescent hospital is barely holding on,” and “If the government delays further in establishing institutional safety measures and support measures, local pediatric essential medical care will soon lose its function.”