Health services to get 12 more doctors

The Portuguese physicians include specialists in gastroenterology, anatomical pathology and clinical pathology, the Health Bureau deputy director Chan Wai Sin said

The local public health services will soon get a welcome boost to their ranks with the arrival of 12 physicians from Portugal, the Health Bureau (SSM) deputy director Chan Wai Sin announced on Sunday.
The specialists will start work during the next few months, the official told local media.
“Their expertise includes gastroenterology, anatomical pathology and clinical pathology. It [the local health system] is quite shorthanded in these fields, so we prioritize hiring these people,” Chan said.
The new physicians will also fill roles in the areas of forensic medicine, cardiac surgery and general practice, he added yesterday, according to Rádio Macau.
Last May the government confirmed they were trying to hire at least 26 physicians and other health professionals in areas such as cardiology, paediatrics and psychiatry. In October the SSM said a group of 40 physicians would soon arrive in the territory.
On Sunday Chan said the bureau would continue to look in mainland China and in other countries to find the medical specialists that Macau lacks.
The territory currently has no medical school and, as such, all its physicians are trained or hired outside the region. The official did reveal that the SSM plans to train local specialists, but did not disclose any further details.
Last October the bureau said it planned to train 265 local specialists throughout this decade, also to respond to the opening of the second public hospital, slated for 2015.
However, this step will only begin after the revision of the legal framework for medical internships, which should be ready “by the end of 2011 or early 2012,” SSM representatives said in October.

Elderly services

In addition the government will set up a cross-department task force to assess its geriatric services.
“It will make an evaluation on the senior patients of different departments. As such it will not be necessary to set up a geriatric unit, where all elderly patients need to be evaluated,” Chan said on Sunday.
The SSM is keen to extend the public geriatric services to different local communities.
The number of calls from elderly people to the emergency service operated by the Macau General Union of the Neighbourhood Associations, known as ‘Kai Fong’, increased in the last few days as temperatures dropped.
The Kai Fong told TDM News on Saturday that last week it had received more calls from elderly seeking help due to health problems.
“We got 22 calls seeking help. They all feel unwell and need an ambulance to take them to the hospital. It’s cold these days and more people will call at around two in the afternoon,” Lam Lai Shueng, from the Kai Fong, said.
The service handles an average of 150 calls every day, a figure that also includes requests for information. The number of users has grown to about 3,300 senior citizens since it was introduced, in March 2009.
The organisation has nearly 200 volunteers helping with the calls but Lam says the majority are retirees and students. She called on more people to help the emergency service.
Also last week, a new elderly home for 184 people was opened in Ilha Verde district. The project is a good example of cooperation between the government and social service organisations, the president of the Social Welfare Bureau, Iong Kong Io, said, quoted by TDM News.