We now have more and more hospitals to choose from
We now have more and more hospitals to choose from. As of last year, there were 667 private and 653 government hospitals operating in Indonesia, up from the 491 private and 589 government hospitals in 1998, according to the Health Ministry.
Yet despite growing criticism over poor management of medical services, lawmakers and the government are seemingly ignoring the problem. Instead it seems they are gearing up to grant legal immunity to hospitals and physicians against lawsuits.
The latest draft of the hospital bill, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, has been on the lawmakers' table since 2005.
Scheduled for passage before legislators end their tenure shortly in September, the hospital bill contains some potential land mines for patients.
Among them is a chapter on hospital legal protection that says, "A hospital may not be prosecuted while conducting its main function of saving human lives."
The Health Ministry's director general of medical services, Farid Husain, says the legal protection clause is necessary for hospitals during emergency situations, otherwise their doctors could refuse to take on patients for fear of prosecution should anything go wrong.
"The clause is clear enough," Farid says. "Why should they risk going to jail for this noble cause?"
Despite the definition of the clause that is deemed too obscure and debatable, Farid says, the clause covers only emergency situations when doctors need to act quickly to save a patient's life.
He insists the clause will not grant hospitals and physicians immunity from prosecution resulting from negligence or malpractice.
However, noted lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, who specializes in medical malpractice and negligence, says the article is too general and will effectively discourage any efforts by patients seeking justice against perceived hospital wrongdoings.
If passed, the bill will pose yet another barrier to patients seeking justice, and add to the mess the country's health management and system brought about by a protracted lack of government supervision, overly powerful pharmaceutical companies, a strong "esprit de corps" in the medical profession, and the poor health insurance system, critics say.
Farid, however, insists the bill is a progressive move toward helping standardized medical services and fees to ensure quality and affordability.
Under the bill, he says, hospitals will be required to get quality and safety accreditation by independent agencies every three years, or risk losing their licenses.
Farid claims the root cause of patient complaints revolve mainly around doctors' lack of communi-cation with patients, and not on supervision. (adh)
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