The Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City today worked with Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital on the management and use of drugs.
At the working session with the Culture and Social Affairs Committee, Director Nguyen Huu Lan of Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital said that hospitals are still facing a very difficult time bidding for drugs and medical equipment. In 2023, the hospital carried out bidding for seven drug packages, including original brand name drugs or therapeutic equivalents, generic drugs - pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents and traditional medicine bidding package with total winning value of over VND204 billion (US$8,032,252).
Previously, in 2022, the hospital also conducted bidding for the procurement of five drug packages with a total winning value of VND 188.9 billion. The hospital conducted bidding based on effective legal documents and the actual needs of patient treatment.
In addition, the hospital has developed technical criteria and norms for the procurement and bidding of drugs, chemicals, equipment, and medical supplies so that the hospital has sufficient quantity and high-quality items to curb interruption of treatment. Procurement and bidding packages have been conducted openly and transparently online.
However, Director Nguyen Huu Lan expressed that the hospital wants to add more drugs to the list of drugs for centralized bidding at the national scale and in localities to reduce fragmented bidding by each hospital as it is time-consuming procedure for hospitals to bid on their own while the staff is insufficient and unprofessional because not everyone has expertise in bidding. Personnel in hospitals just focus on performing professional work of treatment without having to bid for drugs, equipment, and medical supplies like currently, said Dr. Nguyen Huu Lan.
Because currently, almost all personnel carrying out bidding work in hospitals are not good at inviting bids so they are easy to make mistakes.
With the same opinions, Ho Chi Minh City People's Council deputy Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet who is Director of Hung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City pointed out that hospitals are still struggling in drug bidding of medicines and equipment.
She added that almost all personnel currently performing bidding work in hospitals do not have professional skills and they rely only on experience and training, so errors are inevitable during the process. While the prices of goods, especially drugs and medical supplies, are different across the country as at present, allowing hospitals to bid on their own can easily do wrongdoings.
Concluding the working session, Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the municipal People's Council Cao Thanh Binh hailed the efforts of Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital in recent times to prevent shortages of drugs and medical supplies in treatment for patients. According to him, the hospital should continue to conduct bidding for drugs, medical supplies and medicine to fully serve the needs of patients.
Mr. Cao Thanh Binh affirmed that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and responsible agencies noted the hospital's proposals and suggestions which are very close to the reality. Therefore, the committee and related agencies will work together to come up with solutions to remove shortcomings in drug bidding for Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital in particular and other hospitals in general.
