In response to some people's reflections that they "went to a number of hospitals and found that fever clinics were not open," Jiao Yahui, director of the Medical Affairs Department of the National Health Commission, said at the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism (JPCM) press conference held in the afternoon of Dec. 9: "We sent out personnel to carry out spot checks and unannounced visits. It was indeed found that there were some fever clinic closures." Some of the closures were temporary, while others were for long periods of time, and the NHSC demanded that this be corrected. "For places with more serious problems, we issued a supervisory letter, asking the localities to make immediate corrections."
Jiao Yahui said the NHSC will immediately send a supervisory team to localities to supervise and inspect, one of the most important elements of which will be the opening of fever clinics around the country.
On December 8, the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism issued the Notice on Further Optimizing the Process of Fever Patient Consultation (hereinafter referred to as the Notice). The Notice requires that localities should publicize the list of medical institutions open to fever clinics to the society through multiple channels, and should ensure that fever clinics are open 24 hours a day, and should not be closed or suspended without authorization or at will. To strengthen the publicity and interpretation, to facilitate the general public to know and understand the policy, timely access to medical services.
According to Jiao Yahui, the steering group "will have to check on-site whether the announced fever clinics of these medical institutions are really open. For serious problems, we will also be nationally notified and criticized. If there is still a lack of responsibility here, we will also recommend local accountability."
Recently, the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism held a video conference in the industry and the system to reiterate once again that the fever clinics of hospitals above the second level and primary health care institutions with the conditions should be set up as much as possible, should be opened as much as possible.
At the same time, health administrative departments at all levels are also required to strengthen supervision and inspection of the opening of fever clinics, to carry out on-site unannounced visits and random inspections, and any fever clinic found to be closed or suspended without the consent of the health department should be corrected immediately on-site.
On December 10, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission reported that the city's 349 community health centers can receive patients with fever, dry cough and other 11 types of symptoms by transforming the existing fever screening sentinel sites and setting up fever clinics.
The Beijing Municipal Health Commission said the move is aimed at effectively responding to the new situation and new tasks facing the current epidemic prevention and control work, and better play the role of primary health care institutions "bottom of the net", to ensure that patients with fever and other symptoms of the 11 types of symptoms can get timely, effective and convenient medical services.
On the construction of fever clinics, the Notice calls for simplifying the setup of fever clinics and the process of patients visiting them.
In terms of simplifying the setup of fever clinics, medical institutions are no longer required to set up three zones and two channels after setting up fever clinics in relatively independent areas, "but the conditions of ventilation should be increased, which means that good ventilation conditions are one of the most important means of preventing cross-infection." Jiao Yahui said.
For residents with symptoms such as fever and cough, regardless of whether or not nucleic acid or antigen testing is performed, and what the test results are, if residents have a need for medical attention, the Notice said, they can go to the fever clinic (clinic) of the medical institution on their own.
The localities shall not force residents to contact through their communities or streets or be transferred through 120 emergency vehicles, and shall not restrict or block their independent medical treatment in any way. Medical institutions shall not shirk or refuse to diagnose patients who come to the clinic, and shall strictly implement the system of responsibility for the first diagnosis of fever clinics.
In addition, fever clinics should increase the number of fever clinics as much as possible. Jiao Yahui said: "Because now is also a high fever season, so we ask the hospital to increase the number of fever clinics as much as possible, and all the hospital internal medical staff to carry out the appropriate training to ensure that these people are able to readily adjusted to the fever clinic as needed to receive treatment."
At the same time, the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism also requires medical staff and patients attending the clinic to be well protected, and the most important protection is to be standardized to wear a good medical protective mask.
Fever clinic outpatient medical staff to standardize the wearing of medical protective masks, wear isolation clothing; patients and accompanying personnel, if the condition allows the case, there is no respiratory distress, but also try to wear medical protective masks, to maximize the protection of the safety of the patients.