Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff to the president, asked relevant ministries at a meeting of senior secretaries and aides on the 15th to draw up practical improvements to the emergency medical system based on the standard of "what can save even one more life."
At the meeting, Kang said, "Whether it's being turned away from emergency rooms or driven around on the road, there is no difference from the public's standpoint," adding, "In Korea, which has a world-class medical system, emergency patients are still losing their lives because they cannot find a hospital."
Kang referred to the recent death of a high school student who was an emergency patient in Busan, pointing out that although the 119 rescue team asked several hospitals, including university hospitals, to accept the transfer, the patient could not be admitted due to reasons such as inability to provide treatment.
He also mentioned the dualized emergency medical management system divided between the National Fire Agency and the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the issue of liability for medical accidents when accepting patients, and asked the relevant ministries and the medical community to prepare practical improvement measures.
Kang also noted that the burden of caring for critically ill patients and people with severe disabilities is being excessively shifted to families. Citing cases in which long-term family caregiving led to extreme choices, he said, "A social structure that dumps the responsibility of caring for critically ill patients solely on families is becoming the cause of tragic crimes."
He also referred to media investigations showing that cases of so-called caregiver killings have continued to increase since 2006, saying, "Society must share the burden that destroys the lives of not only patients but entire families."
He then directed relevant ministries and related agencies, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), and the Presidential Committee on Low Birthrate and Aging Society, to devise fundamental institutional reforms under which households and society jointly take responsibility for the caregiving burden for critically ill patients and people with severe disabilities.
In addition, considering that it will take time to overhaul the system, he ordered a priority review of measures that can substantially ease the caregiving burden, focusing on low-income households and those in need of social consideration.