The national guideline for patient referral outside Bhutan will be reviewed. However, as of now, it is uncertain when it will be reviewed. During the Meet the Press session, the Health Minister said this is to address issues related to referral cases and to ensure timely treatment. According to the minister, the government spends at least Nu 700,000 for each referral case.
According to the health minister, referral cases in Bhutan are determined by the referral committee upon doctors’ recommendation when patients cannot be treated within the country.
The minister was asked about the government’s plans to build the capacity of the existing workforce to address late or close-to-death referrals.
To this, the minister said the ministry is planning to establish a strong diagnostic arrangement to improve referral system.
Tandin Wangchuk, health minister said “for a good public healthcare service, we are focusing on healthcare professional capacity building such as specialisation, developing partnerships with international medical institution, and introducing advanced diagnostic technology.”
The minister added that incidents such as close-to-death patient referrals occur when patients are sent for end-of-life care services, health care provided in the time leading up to a person’s death.
Such referrals are usually done when the national referral hospital is unable to treat them, or when they are terminally ill.
According to the minister, between 2022 and 2023, 1.9 per cent of referral cases to Kolkota succumbed to illnesses. Some of them were referred for end-of-life care services.
However, the minister said, 85 per cent of them returned completely cured or with improved health.
The minister added that the ministry strengthened the referral committee by appointing a chief and by initiating other plans to improve referral system.
“We have officials overseas, three in Kolkata, two in Vellore and one in Delhi, we interact with them and discuss how to improve the healthcare services for the referred patients. We are also starting a robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism.”
He added the new mechanism will send either a weekly or monthly report to update the ministry on whether referred patients are receiving required services or not.
According to the health minister, the ministry spent Nu 596 M for referral cases between last year and until June this year.
Similarly, the government spent Nu 501.205 M between 2022 and 2023, and Nu 214.026 M between 2021 and 2022 and Nu 129.578 M between 2020 and 2021 on referral cases.
Singye Dema
Edited by Phub Gyem
