S. Korea asks patients with mild illness to visit community hospitals amid doctors strike

Seoul, Sep 3 (IANS) The South Korean health ministry on Tuesday asked patients with mild illness to visit community hospitals during the Chuseok holiday, as some doctors have warned of a potential disruption of emergency care at major hospitals due to a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.

The Chuseok fall harvest holiday runs from September 14-18.

In a rare acknowledgment of a shortage of trainee doctors at emergency rooms, Jung Tong-ryoung, a senior official at the health ministry, said there is a "vacuum" in medical personnel at emergency units at major hospitals, Yonhap news agency reported.

There had been some 1,500 senior doctors and 500 trainee doctors at about 180 major hospitals before the junior doctors left their worksites in late February in protest of the government's medical reform, Jung said.

With the trainee doctors being absent, Jung said, "There is a vacuum of about 25 per cent (medical personnel)."

Health authorities have been preparing for the Chuseok holiday, including deploying military and public doctors to emergency rooms amid concerns over a possible disruption in medical services.

"Medical specialists from other departments are also working in emergency rooms to fill the vacancies, but it is not easy to operate emergency rooms at full capacity as in the past," Jung said.

The government, meanwhile, plans to have around 4,000 clinics and hospitals open during the holiday, which runs from Sept. 14 through 18, while charging more for non-critical visits to emergency rooms.

Earlier this week, the ministry said that the number of doctors, including specialists and junior doctors, currently working in emergency rooms stands at 73.4 per cent of the usual capacity.

Of the country's 409 emergency rooms, 406 are maintaining 24-hour operations, although 27 have reduced the number of beds, the ministry added.