Experience in fast procurement without shortage of drugs

Viet Duc Hospital is using emergency purchasing, while Bach Mai and some other facilities are preparing for a new purchasing period to ensure adequate medicine and medical supplies.

On November 6, in the context of the ongoing shortage of drugs and medical supplies locally and being discussed at the National Assembly , hospital leaders acknowledged that they were facing difficulties in purchasing public investment. Most recently, hospitals in the West suffered from widespread shortages of blood for treatment due to slow procurement of blood bags and blood testing chemicals. Some hospitals in the Southeast and Central Highlands had patients buy gloves and intravenous fluids for surgeons to use.

Hospitals are racing to bid for procurement to overcome the shortage. One reality they face is that they have successfully bid but cannot receive the goods immediately due to the impact of the epidemic and the war situation causing disruptions in the global supply chain. For example, Viet Duc Hospital, last week, 3 winning companies "requested to delay delivery time", according to Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of the hospital. A company specializing in good endoscopic surgical instruments, used in the world and Vietnam, has just sent a document "unable to commit to a delivery time".

However, according to Mr. Hung, the requests for delayed orders do not greatly affect medical examination and treatment activities. Currently, medicines and medical supplies at Viet Duc Hospital are still sufficient to serve patients. No patient, especially emergency patients, has had to postpone surgery. The reason is that in August, when he took over as hospital director, the first thing Mr. Hung did was to ask departments to assess the situation of supplies, speed up purchasing, adjust internal purchasing regulations; apply emergency purchasing methods and fast delivery.

Every day, Viet Duc performs 250-270 surgeries, more than 30 emergency surgeries, 50 operating rooms operate at full capacity. Most of the patients are in critical condition, requiring a lot of supplies and high treatment techniques. Meanwhile, a bidding package from the time the budget is approved to calling a contractor, this process takes 4 months. If there are problems that need to be clarified, the process takes longer, usually over 4-5 months, with some packages taking 8 months.

"Our experience is to clearly decentralize authority to departments. Building bidding documents is the job of the scientific council, consulting with hospitals and supporting bidding experts, and some bidding packages even require hiring consultants," said Mr. Hung. Thanks to that, the hospital purchases continuously and on schedule, avoiding running out of supplies while not having time to buy.

Mr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Hospital. Photo: P.Hong

Also lacking medical supplies, Bach Mai Hospital has now purchased many equipment to serve patients. Recently, the hospital won a bid for 4 MRI machines and 2 CT machines; 20 gastrointestinal endoscopy machines... The total value of the equipment and supplies won is over 1,700 billion, and for medicine it is 2,000 billion.

"Once these devices are installed, we expect that patients coming to the hospital will no longer have to wait or make an appointment like before, and will be able to have the procedure done on the same day," said Mr. Co.

To do this, Mr. Co said that "the important experience is internal solidarity and anti-corruption work". The hospital does not get involved in "commissions" for contractors, in bidding contracts. Everything must be open and transparent, there is no such thing as contractors bribing hospital staff.

At the National Children's Hospital, which receives about 5,000-6,000 patients and more than 2,000 inpatients every day, medical supplies and medicines are also a big problem. Mr. Trinh Ngoc Hai, Deputy Director of the Hospital, said that in addition to developing and issuing bidding and purchasing procedures for each group of goods, the hospital has established a specialized scientific council and many small councils.

The parallel establishment of these councils is responsible for assessing the list, active ingredients of drugs, configuration, technical features of medical equipment and supplies, etc. The hospital conducts bidding and procurement based on the opinions of the councils. The hospital also divides into many different bidding packages. Equipment and supplies are divided into groups with similar features and techniques to increase competitiveness, many contractors can participate and the hospital can choose contractors to supply products with good quality and reasonable prices. Thanks to that, since the beginning of the year, the hospital has successfully implemented more than 50 bidding packages for equipment, supplies and drugs.

Emergency Department A9, Bach Mai Hospital. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

Professor Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of Hue Central Hospital, said that when the bidding results were available, the hospital immediately prepared a bidding plan for the upcoming procurement period. In addition, in case of shortages due to supply disruptions, the hospital will use drugs and supplies with similar effects to replace the drugs and supplies that are in short supply.

Drug shortages have occurred in many hospitals nationwide since mid-2022. Many medical facilities have not been able to purchase machinery, chemicals, and drugs, affecting patient treatment. To address the situation, the Government and the Ministry of Health have issued many regulations to facilitate procurement bidding. However, according to experts, machinery, supplies, and drugs are "weapons" of doctors. Therefore, in the future, procurement needs to have specific regulations for a specific profession.

According to the purchasing methods of other countries, items that affect social security are centrally bid at the national level. "This is the way to mobilize the best in procurement and bidding, to negotiate the lowest price, helping medical units minimize risks, errors, and mistakes when bidding," Mr. Hung said and suggested that Vietnam apply this.

Le Nga

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