11 hospitals in Sapporo refused to admit 2-year girl last November

Friday 06th March, 04:05 AM JST

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czykent at 09:08 PM JST - 6th March

Absurd. The poor innocent girl was simply kicked and pushed around by hospital simply due to their selfish excuse. I do believe that the hospital rejects patients of these injuries in fear that these patients occupy their spaces for a prolong poeriod of time,"wasting" their resource and that it will affect their reputation if they fail to treat the complication incurred in these treatment or if these patients' worsen or die in their hospital. This ridiculous actions should be denounce and respective hospitals shound be punished accordingly.
bamboohat at 10:03 PM JST - 6th March

People are worried about trying and making a mistake even in hospitals. If they don't have the "correct" doctor, or don't have the "correct" number of beds or if they don't have the "correct" number of hours left before the shift ends, then they just can't deal. It's not a matter of compassion, it's a matter of having an obscene need to follow the rules in every aspect of society.

Of course, I haven't seen anybody getting on the parents. For everyone that refused to treat their injured daughter, they (and the ambulance drivers) likely just bowed their heads and said "hai" and moved on.

If you speak up assertively,and not give in so quickly, people usually bend. Doctors are people too.
Ah_so at 10:03 PM JST - 6th March

The private medical system strikes again...

As one who's own child has been in this situation, do not live in rural Japan where choice of hospitals is limited. There may only be one paediatrician around and if he or she is off duty, there may be no one to help. It was just a broken bone, but after 5pm...

If only there was some socialised central plan whereby each area could be forced to provide A&E services 24/7, like in Britain.
the_sicilian at 10:04 PM JST - 6th March

I'm not surprised. Between refusing admittance, and driving the ambulance at 40 KM/h, it's no wonder anyone who gets hurt lives.

And yes, I live here.

Ciao
johnnyboy73 at 10:47 PM JST - 6th March

TheNewFront: Socialized medicine is not always successful. I think France has the best model for socialized medicine but the UK is a disaster. You could die in one of their hospotals waiting for care.

Moderator: Keep the discussion focused on Japan please.
Sarge at 11:04 PM JST - 6th March

"their staff was busy dealing with other patients"

What's up with all these sick and injured people in Sapporo? Did they catch a cold, or break their leg skiing/snowboarding?
rollonarte at 11:05 PM JST - 6th March

I guess Japan needs "hallway medicine."
LHommeQuiMent at 12:20 AM JST - 7th March

There is no mandatory accreditation system for Japanese hospitals. There is a voluntary process and it is not implemented by the government. This means that there is no established standard. The institution may call itself a hospital but it may not offer the standard health-care facilities one would expect.

Also there is no mandatory continuing education of physicians in Japan. And specialist training is not strictly controlled as in other developed countries.

In short, in Japan standards of medical care can vary greatly from one hospital to another, or from one physician to another.
Badsey at 12:35 AM JST - 7th March

Be thankful the fire dept/emergency did not give up and they are keeping stats.

These are things the Gov should be spending money on (in a time of recession) instead of handouts. You could easily spend a few ¥ in emergency care/logistics and reap great benefits. =You are not throwing money away by investing in emergency care.

Kid could have easily died, went into convulsions etc and time is a big factor.
motytrah at 01:25 AM JST - 7th March

Socialized medicine strikes again.

Wrong! Japan actually has a higher percentage of private insurance than the US. It also has one of the highest levels of private ownership of hospitals and clinics. Sure a lot of people get tossed into the National Health Plan (including a lot of expats) but most Japanese aren't in that system.

The general issue is Japan has put such a hard cap on provider prices that it's hard for them to operate ERs like other countries. The nice side is an MRI in Japan is 10-15 times less expensive than in the US. The down side is cases like these. For some clinics make or break is because of vending machines they have in the lobby.

They really need is a slight bump in provider fees, as well as some COLA to take into account it costs a lot more to have a building in the heart of Tokyo.
Waylandstorm at 01:47 AM JST - 7th March

Um folks if the hospital doesnt have anyone that knows how to deal with a child and brain injuries they cant realy do much of anything to help the child in fact trying to could get the kid killed.

But in america they take the kid in and stabalize them and contact a hospital that has someone who can handle the patient and then airlift the person to that place right away.
francisco3269 at 02:40 AM JST - 7th March

This is a complete disgrace and an insult to humanity. How can people act like this and then go home and sleep well at night? This issue must be resolved!
Badsey at 02:55 AM JST - 7th March

All big and moderate cities in the U.S. have CT and MRI scanners, even most of the smaller ones have them now. If a rural hospital didn't have either they would goto the regional medical center that does. The ambulance/emergency would have just drove right there to the hospital that has the correct equipment because of the head injury. 1hr drive at most.

Many of the larger hospitals have helicopters and landing pads now also. (May share a helicopter regionally) Ambulance would have picked kid up and they would have radioed in that they need the chopper when in dire circumstances. Or chopper would pick up kid at hospital.
shiuu at 10:25 AM JST - 7th March

Japanese people pay taxes to support a system in which millions and millions of elderly Japanese with nothing better to do can alleviate their boredom by crowing into clogged waiting rooms for a few minutes chat with a doctor which, thanks to national health care, only costs them a couple of hundred yen per visit. Meanwhile, overburdened hospitals end up turning legitimate patients away. In other words, welcome to socialized medicine.
PepinGalarga at 11:27 AM JST - 7th March

in Japan, from what I have seen in personal experience, when the ambulance comes and picks you up, they wait at the location until a hospital is willing to take the patient.

This appears to be SOP here and sometimes the delay lasts for many minutes if not hours. In the meantime, critical care is not available and people die as a result.