The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 26th it will strengthen a 24/7, year-round response system so high-risk pregnant women and newborns can receive treatment with confidence. It also said it will address the practice of "ER ping-pong," where emergency patients fail to receive timely care and are bounced from one emergency room to another. The ministry reported these measures, titled "Plans to improve the medical system for high-risk pregnant women, newborns and emergency care," at the Cabinet meeting the same day.
The government will operate a nationwide cooperation system centered on maternal and child medical centers. Maternal and child medical centers are hospitals equipped with medical staff and equipment for mothers and newborns, and are classified into three levels: primary local, secondary regional and tertiary severe. There are currently nine regional maternal and child medical centers. As the Chungcheong, North Jeolla and Jeju regions lack such centers, the plan is to build cooperation networks there as well. There are currently two severe maternal and child medical centers in Seoul only. One severe maternal and child medical center will also be designated in each of the Southeast, Daegu–Gyeongbuk, Central and Honam regions.
The patient transfer system will also be strengthened. High-risk, emergency labor patients will be transported by 119 ambulances when being transferred to another hospital. For long distances, doctor helicopters and firefighting helicopters will be used. In addition, specialists from local maternity hospitals may take on-call shifts or work part time at regional maternal and child medical centers.
To address the avoidance of essential care, the burden of medical accidents will be eased. If a physician exercised due care but an unavoidable delivery accident occurred, the state will strengthen compensation. Starting in May next year, even if medical accidents occur in high-risk essential fields such as delivery, pediatrics, emergency and severe care, medical staff will not be referred for criminal trial absent gross negligence. Instead, the hospitals to which the medical staff belong must carry liability insurance and fully compensate for damages.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will resolve the problem of patients wandering roads in search of an emergency room. The "transfer system innovation model," which is being piloted in Gwangju and Jeolla Province, will be expanded nationwide by the third quarter of this year. Under this model, local emergency medical institutions agree on principles for patient acceptance. Earlier in Yeosu, South Jeolla, when a farm machinery accident occurred and no nearby hospital could perform surgery, a hospital to provide first aid and a hospital to provide definitive treatment were designated simultaneously. Minister Jung Eun-kyeong said, "We will create a safe environment for both the public and medical staff."