Medical examination and treatment for foreign patients at Duc Minh General Hospital

BHG - Along with the development of the tourism industry, the number of foreign tourists coming to Ha Giang Province is increasing. In 2023, there were over 282,000 foreign visitors to the province. Accordingly, services, including medical services for foreigners, are becoming increasingly necessary.

Tran HoaiQuang, Deputy Director of Duc Minh General Hospital, Ha Giang City, said: “The province's tourism industry has been developing, drawing an increase in the number of foreign visitors. However, due to differences in the factors of weather, climate, and food, the number of foreign patients coming the hospital for medical examination and treatment is increasing.”

In recent times, American, German, and British patients have been coming to the hospital to have retrograde ureteral lithotripsy surgery, sinus surgery, and bone and joint surgery.

According to statistics, the number of foreign patients who have come for medical treatment at Duc Minh General Hospital from 2023 to now is 591 patients. Since the beginning of the year, the hospital has welcomed 223 foreign patients.

However, because the province's medical staff and doctors rarely participate in foreign language training, there are difficulties in receiving, examining, and treating foreign patients due to language barriers.

Therefore, hospitals are required to have doctors and nurses who can speak foreign languages to treat and communicate with foreigners.

One of them is Doctor Vu NhatHien, Department of Surgery and Obstetrics, who has fairly good ability to communicate, examine, and advise foreign patients. In many complicated cases that require in-depth discussions and examinations and require specialised  English, the task has been assigned to Doctor Vu NhatHien by the hospital.

In the treatment room, Alfie — a 19-year-old patient from the UK who came the hospital for treatment due to food poisoning — said that this is her first time coming to Ha Giang. After staying at the hospital for treatment, she found the doctors and nurses to be very friendly and able to communicate in English, so it was quite convenient. After three days of treatment, she felt fine and was prepared to be discharged.

In another case, a British patient suffered a rather complicated head injury. The patient was alone and when brought to the hospital and had to be transferred due to serious illness.

From the patient's information, the hospital called to notify the patient's family in the UK to come to Vietnam. After the patient was stable, the family thanked the hospital for their thoughtfulness and enthusiasm.

Currently, the country is strongly integrating internationally, it is necessary to train and foster foreign language skills for medical staff and doctors.

It can be said that Ha Giang has not only done a good work of providing health care to patients, but also promoted the expansion of services and subjects of medical facilities, improving the capacity of the medical facilities.

Additionally, medical examination and treatment for foreign patients also contributes to affirming the image of Ha Giang as a friendly, hospitable, and safe tourism-developed city.

Phung Nguyen