Survey of current respiratory departments setup in China / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To learn the present setup of respiratory departments as well as development of diagnosis and treatment in China, for reference and policy making of the respiratory specialty development. Methods In May and June 2016,3 202 hospitals were surveyed, to learn their respiratory department development,development of sub-specialty,naming of departments,staffing ratio of the medical staff to bed,basic indicators for medical services,medical techniques and disease types treated. Results 77.8% of the tertiary hospitals and 38.8% of the secondary hospitals have independent respiratory departments. Among such tertiary hospitals,54.4% of them have respiratory intensive care units,21.8% have respiratory & sleep disorder clinics, and 13.1% have smoking cessation clinic. The physician-nurse ratio of respiratory department of such hospitals amounted to 11.66, while that of secondary hospitals to 11.61. 99.8% of the tertiary hospitals and about 95.0% of the secondary hospitals are competent of invasive positive pressure ventilation,noninvasive mechanical ventilation,and pulmonary function test among others. Conclusions Rooms of improvement are found in the following areas. Poor respiratory specialty and sub-specialty construction at such hospitals; insufficient nursing staff; tertiary hospitals have not formed unique advantages in diagnosis and treatment techniques and types of diseases; hierarchical medical system is to be further established.