24-hour pediatric centers are being planned Japan
The plan is intended to prevent sick children being sent from one hospital to another at night and to cut the number of malpractice cases by reducing pediatricians' workloads.
According to society officials, with cooperation from doctors working at small hospitals and clinics in local communities, the centers will serve as emergency medical centers that will provide medical services at night and on weekends and holidays.
The society will tailor plans to suit local circumstances and meet the needs of patients, and is expected to implement the project next spring.
The implementation is likely to improve significantly the pediatric emergency system, which currently is facing several problems.
According to the officials, under the new system, medical centers with about 30 beds will become the main pediatric facilities for local communities, focusing on emergency cases and treatment for newborn babies.
The society plans to establish 400 centers across the country, using existing medical and public facilities, with one for every 300,000 to 500,000 residents, the officials said.
More than 10 pediatricians, including those in charge of emergency cases, will work in shifts to provide medical services at night and on weekends and holidays, the officials said.
Local hospitals and clinics will not provide medical services for emergency cases at night and on weekends and holidays and will only admit patients with minor symptoms, ensuring that there are doctors available to staff the new pediatric centers, the sources said.
Doctors at hospitals and clinics will handle emergency cases until 11 p.m. to facilitate cooperation with the new centers, the officials said.
Specialist hospitals, such as university and pediatric hospitals, will concentrate on treatment for patients with serious conditions who require advanced medical treatment, but also will provide assistance to the centers in the provision of round-the-clock emergency services, the officials said.
The society, which has a membership of about 17,000 pediatricians across the country, has a leading role in the country's pediatric services.
This month it began establishing project teams in Tokyo and other prefectures, made up of doctors from university hospitals and the Japan Pediatric Society and pediatricians in charge of emergency cases at hospitals, to work on the plan.
A plan for each area of the country is expected to be mapped out by the spring, when the society will work with municipal governments to implement the project as quickly as possible.
Emergency pediatric cases are hard to handle because the number of pediatricians per hospital is low. At night, the situation becomes even more difficult since hospitals are usually busy overnight treating patients suffering minor problems.
De 24 de ore de pediatrie centre sunt planificate Japonia - 24-hour pediatric centers are being planned Japan - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate