The Public Health Ministry is opposed to the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) plan to have the administration of central hospitals transferred to the
Education Ministry, saying this would damage the public health system and medical services.
The reason behind OPDC's proposal is that it wants to cut down red tape and the duplication of jobs.
Apart from providing treatment, medical students also get hands on training at the 25 central hospitals around the country. OPDC believes that these hospitals should be upgraded to medical school status so they can produce healthcare personnel and doctors.
However, Public Health Minister Wittaya Kaewparadai said the government needs to reconsider this idea.
"We have to think about how people will benefit from this move? Will medical services improve if the central hospitals are run by the Education Ministry?" he asked.
The ministry's permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said he and his team would ask the OPDC today to review its study, which was conducted by an education institute and the Public Health Ministry was not invited to participate.
"The Public Health Ministry and OPDC should have conducted the study together to decide which direction the administration of central hospitals should take," Paijit said.
The Rayong central hospital's director, Dr Narit Onprom, said transferring administration duties to the Education Ministry would increase the burden on the hospital staff because they would have to give priority to teaching medical students instead of providing treatment.
"Medical students do not have the knowledge or skills to teach each other, and of course, this would double the workload of personnel in central hospitals," he said.
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