Jiangsu ensures access to healthcare services in COVID-19 fight

2022-03-28 17:22:00

In the fight against COVID-19 resurgence, Jiangsu has ensured the healthcare needs accessible to the public through multiple measures, such as offering telemedicine services and hotlines and opening green channels for patients in need.

For hospitals across the province, one of the priorities is to meet the needs of pregnant women and newborns. In the Maternal and Child Health Center of Jiangning District in Nanjing City, doctor Liu Xiayan often called pregnant women living in areas under quarantine to give suggestions every day, such as ways to lower blood sugar, appropriate workout and emergency response.

Amid the COVID-19 travel restrictions, the center opened the 24-hour helpline on March 10 specially for expectant mothers and new parents, who can also contact doctors through popular social media app WeChat to find answers to various questions, such as breastfeeding, postnatal rehabilitation and childcare.

Healthcare services providers are also well-prepared to cope with an emergency. After a resident community in Jurong was quarantined on March 15, a woman was expecting a baby soon but checks showed an abnormal fetal position. The woman’s husband called for help from the local COVDI-19 response team in Baohua Town, who then coordinated to send the ambulance and medics and also contacted with Nanjing Gulou Hospital. On March 21, the woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

Huai’an First People’s Hospital also give priority to people’s life in containing the virus’ spread. On March 24, it received a man badly injured after falling at a construction site, with a 50-cm metal bar plunged into his body. According to the requirements, all patients need to have a negative nucleic acid test certificate issued within 48 hours before being hospitalized or having a surgery. The hospital opened a green channel and surgeons wearing protective equipment performed the surgery for about two hours. The worker is now in a stable situation.

Furthermore, to reduce the hospital visits by patients with chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, and minimize the risks of cross-infection, the Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital has recently upgraded a mini-program supported by about 190 doctors from the hospital’s 29 departments. It enables patients to receive consultation, book test appointments and get prescribed medicines directly sent to their home all through the online services.

Nanjing Gulou Hospital also operates a similar mini-program for online services, supported by more than 1,000 doctors from 44 departments.

In Changzhou, the city’s 13 online hospitals and doctors from nearly 50 specialist services provide comprehensive healthcare solutions across different procedures. The system also embeds functions of medicine use suggestions and automatic follow-ups.