Better healthcare
Medical services under the social welfare scheme at state hospitals have improved after an increase in the government subsidy per person, Social Security Office (SSO) deputy secretary-general Pratheep Thanakijcharoen said yesterday.
The subsidy amount has been increased from Bt1,800 to Bt1,900 this year after patients receiving medical service under the universal healthcare scheme were allowed free treatment following the Thaksin government's Bt30 scheme was scrapped. The increase cost the SSO around Bt1.2 billion but it provided essential financial assistance to state hospitals, especially small-scale facilities in remote areas, Pratheep said. Pai Hospital in Mae Hong Son, for example, could now provide a much more efficient service to patients and its ambulance service was available to all those in need, said director Dr Pranomphorn Siriphakdee. The hospitals total funding per-head rose from Bt18 million last year to Bt23.6 million this year. Pathum Ratchawongsa Hospital in Amnat Charoen previously could not afford to hire more physical therapists to help disabled people, but now it had Bt6 million available to expand its rehabilitation course thanks to the increase in the per-head grant, said director Dr
Pathomphong Pruprong.
The Nation
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