Lift Professional Standards, PM Tells Doctors
Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital was inaugurated on March 13. Photo: Prime Minister Hun Manet
- By Teng Yalirozy
- March 13, 2024 4:15 PM
PHOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Manet has told doctors they must improve their professional skills and ethics amid a long-term crisis of public faith in the healthcare system.
He spoke at the March 13 inauguration of the Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital in Kandal province which is expected to bring better healthcare access and equipment.
“Committing any action that leads to a decline in people’s faith in doctors is dangerous,” he said.
“The doctors are the soldiers of angels, so you must ethically and professionally improve yourselves.”
Cambodia's rapid economic growth has boosted its private health sector since the 2000s, but this has yet to significantly improve the quality of care in the public health sector, according to a 2019 research paper.
Some lower medical personnel in the public sector get pay that is less than the living wage, frequently making extra money in the unofficial private sector, it said.
“Among our informants, mistrust in public health facilities was widespread,” the author wrote.
“Many report staff to be unfriendly, not patient-oriented, delivering poor quality services for under-the-table payments, and operating with long waiting times and scarce equipment.”
Hun Manet said that to provide good services, it is necessary to strengthen hospitals and the quality of doctors at all levels.
“Our goal is to deploy services in the health centers for all people 24 hours a day,” he said. “In this mandate, I have set a goal to 60% augment the work and 40% expand the work in all ministries and institutions.
“Overall, we focus on strengthening the provision of services and the implementation of work plans, rather than expanding the number of additional officers.”
He asked for trust in his leadership as he aimed to prioritize the health and wellbeing of the people. He would not allow low-quality medicine to be used.
Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital can serve about 60,000 patients in four districts in Kandal and Takeo provinces.
The hospital is the first built to serve the locals in Koh Thom, Sa’ang and Ponhea Leu districts in Kandal province and Prey Kabbas district in Takeo province. Residents will not have to travel to seek healthcare in Phnom Penh.
Costing about $10 million, the hospital was completed in June 2023 and spans 1,400 sqm. With a capacity of 179 beds, it is equipped with high-tech medical equipment.
After the Khmer Rouge, this hospital was called Srok Koh Thom (Koh Thom District) Hospital and was named Koh Thom District Referral Hospital in 1997.
The hospital was shabby and was used as a COVID-19 quarantine center in 2021.
Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol and Health Minister Chheang Ra initiated the project and gave it its name.
The hospital is equipped with a Hospital Information System developed by the Public Works ministry's General Department of Technology and Public Relations for managing medical equipment, medicines, and patient data.
