No blueprint for medical professionals, groups say

Two medical groups are disappointed over the Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address last week concerning local health care infrastructure, stressing the need for a “more proactive approach” tothe currently under-construction Islands Hospital.

According to the groups, Macau is in need of a blueprint for medical professionals; they are calling on the MSAR to launch a 10-year health care program.

As cited in TDM Lao Hio Fai, secretary-general of Macau Physician Association of Public Hospital noted that there is currently no such blueprint for medical professionals.

“We need to launch this program because we have to know more or less how many specialists and medical staff are needed for the new public hospital and we need to know the scale and size of it,” he said, “but unfortunately, we do not have a blueprint for now.”

Meanwhile Van Yat Kio, president of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau noted that there is a need for the region to foster medical professionals in all fields.

“The government should take a more proactive approach and think ahead to foster a professional medical team to care for our senior citizens,” she explicated.

“We’re not only asking them to foster specific doctors in certain fields but also doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists and social workers.”

Although the concerned group is pleased with the government’s initiative on constructing an integrated elderly care center, the association infers that the government has failed to produce a blueprint concerning shortages of the aforementioned therapists.  LV