Taipei: A doctors’ union has raised concerns about the government’s current measures to resolve Taiwan’s emergency room crisis, urging for alternatives to the existing systems.
According to Focus Taiwan, Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan announced that the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has directed medical centers to improve inpatient bed allocation and enhance coordination among regional hospitals to address severe overcrowding in emergency rooms. However, the Taipei Doctors Union expressed that if the MOHW intends to intervene, it must find an alternative solution beyond the current ineffective inter-hospital coordination mechanism.
The union highlighted that bed coordination still depends largely on phone calls, leaving hospital staff without reliable access to real-time data on bed availability across different hospitals. When a patient cannot be transferred due to a lack of available beds, hospitals typically inform the regional Emergency Operation Center, which is managed by MOHW, resulting in no further action being taken.
Additionally, the union pointed out that ER overcrowding is worsened by hospitals reserving a percentage of beds for more cost-effective non-emergency treatments. Without financial incentives to compensate, hospitals will continue prioritizing these patients over those waiting in the ER. The union also emphasized the shortage of nurses in Taiwan and the need for adjustments to the National Health Insurance (NHI) payment system.
“We hope the government not only communicates [with stakeholders] but also takes decisive action,” the union stated. Meanwhile, Hung Tzu-jen, president of the Taiwan College of Healthcare Executives, noted that implementing the MOHW’s measures would be challenging due to patient preferences for large hospitals or those they frequently visit. According to Hung, hospitals cannot enforce transfers, and the referral system in Taiwan remains weak.
Hung also commented on the limitations faced in an aging society, stating, “In an aging society, even an unlimited number of National Taiwan University Hospital [one of Taiwan’s leading medical centers] wouldn’t be enough to accommodate every patient seeking emergency treatment in a short time.” On February 22, the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine warned that unprecedented overcrowding at ERs could lead to a mass exodus of healthcare workers.
According to MOHW figures, as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, 10 large hospitals in Taiwan had between 60 and 123 patients waiting to be hospitalized.