The Role and Scope of Private Medical Practice in China

Chapter 3. Result part 4
Part 4: Main findings from residents’ focus groups
The role of private health sector
The majority said that the private sector provided a useful alternative to the
public sector. They observed that many who cannot afford treatment at the public
hospitals would turn to private clinics. This was especially so in the rural areas.
Cost was a major issue of concern. One person from Shanxi cited the example
of an old lady with neither offspring nor income, who was stricken with cancer, and
all she could do was wait for her death at home. Before she understood the nature of
her illness, she had to endure the pain and resort to pain-killers because she could not
afford to be examined at the hospital.
A recurring complaint was “the public hospitals charge too much; we end up
paying for a whole list of items’.
Although they found ‘the big hospitals” too expensive, many said they would
have no choice should they be seriously ill “because the big hospitals have good
quality of care”. Some would go to the expensive public hospitals “to make sure of
the diagnosis” and return to the cheaper private clinics for follow-up treatment.
A few (urban residents from Guangdong) said that the private sector was
needed because it was beyond the capacity of the government to establish enough
hospitals to serve the people.
Problems with the private sector
The majority touched on the problem of unqualified doctors in private
practice, especially in the private clinics.
“There are too many quacks in the clinics …we don’t know their standards. It is said that
there are barefoot doctors and animal doctors there. Those doctors who are graduates of medical
schools are quite different.”
The majority also mentioned “fake drugs” as another major problem with the
private clinics, whose sources of drugs were suspect.
They also mentioned the “administrative mess” in the supervision the private
clinics by the authorities. For example,
“Some doctors are not qualified enough to run the clinics but they managed to buy a license”,
and “there are too many private doctors. Some doctors obtained certificates even though they actually
failed in the examination”.
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