You are here: Home > China > Features

Adjust font size:

A doctor plays cards with patients at the Nanjing Brain Hospital. [Photo/China Daily]

Limited support

Adding to the problems, Chinese doctors are placed under extra pressure by the large numbers of patients they have to treat. "When I stayed in the UK with my supervisor, we only needed to treat two people a day, but in China I usually treat more than 30 patients in a morning," said Yao.

Zhang said, "Compared with general hospitals, mental health hospitals generally receive little government funding and so they are under greater pressure to make ends meet. Limited government support hinders the development of these hospitals and in turn further weakens their ability to meet the patients' needs."

Yao explained that there are two main treatments for depression in China - one relies on the prescription of medicine, while the other is rooted in psychotherapy.

"Both of them come up short. Some doctors just spend a few minutes listening to the patient before scribbling a prescription, while some psychologists, who lack medical school training, insist that depressed patients don't need to consult qualified doctors," he said.

Under Chinese law, psychologists are not allowed to interfere with the medicinal treatment of depression, nor do they have the right to prescribe medicines.

"Because of financial reasons or overconfidence in their diagnosis, some psychologists, who have received short-term training from related organizations or in hospitals, have delayed the necessary treatment of patients with depression," said Yao, who added that many cases have been diagnosed by psychologists who then suggested to the patients that hospitalization was unnecessary.

To tackle the situation in China, in November, Nanjing Brain Hospital adopted new measures to combat depression by establishing a special zone containing 30 beds, where patients can take part in a range of group activities including karaoke, watching movies and playing mahjong or chess, depending on their preference.

Unlike traditional mental health hospitals that have adopted a "closed" management system, under which patients are confined to their rooms, or a "fully open" system, where patients are free to come and go as they please, Nanjing Brain Hospital is the first in China to implement a "semi-open" regime.

"Emotionally stable patients are allowed to leave the hospital for a specified time if their guardians request it, but a return time must be guaranteed and guardians must contact the medical staff if the patients exhibit alarming symptoms when outside the hospital. The aim is to create a comfortable, relaxing environment for them," said Yao, who is in charge of the zone.

"Apart from the semi-open system, our key principle is the provision of individual treatment for each patient under a strict monitoring regime. The doctors and nurses are required to fully understand the patients' conditions and are usually able to predict the development of each patient's illness," he said

However, the limited number of medical staff means that in general doctors are often in charge of more than 10 inpatients at any one time. However, at Nanjing Brain Hospital, each medical worker has fewer patients under his or her control. Staff members are required to identify and understand the patients' strong points and persuade them to develop hobbies.

Print E-mail

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

Add your comments...

• User Name Required
• Your Comment
• Enter the words you see:    
  Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.