More than 20,000 medical staff and some $166 million will be transferred to each capital and provincial administrations to implement healthcare services for residents, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng said on Wednesday.
This includes 17,238 doctors who had worked at referral hospitals and health centres and 2,886 doctors who had served at the health departments and the operational district health offices.
Additionally, nearly 3,000 contract staff who are serving at the health departments and the referral hospitals in the capital and provinces, towns, districts and various health centres had also been transferred to the capital and provincial administrations.
Sar Kheng said Cambodia was encountering a difficult situation because of Covid-19 and the government was united in carrying out some essential priority tasks at the local level.
He said decentralisation has worked over the past 10 years and the goal of the transfers is for medical professionals to formally begin carrying out their roles and duties of managing, organising and providing healthcare services for residents in their jurisdictions in a responsible, efficient, transparent and accountable manner.
“What the capital and provincial administrations have to take responsibility for in terms of implementing healthcare functions is to perform those tasks based on policy, strategic plans of the health sector and standards as defined by the Ministry of Health,” Sar Kheng said.
In the meantime, he said the capital and provincial health directors will be accountable and responsible for each province to manage, organise and support techniques and monitor [health department leaders].
Ministry secretary of state Ngan Chamroeurn highlighted a report on transferring management duties and healthcare services to the capital and provincial administrations.
He said overall, the structure of the capital and provincial health departments had currently been transferred to the capital and provincial administrations.
That includes 25 health departments, 25 capital and provincial referral hospitals, 103 operational district health offices, 92 town and district referral hospitals, 1,221 healthcare centres and 127 healthcare facilities.
Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng said transferring the structures of the hospital and departments in the capital and provinces to be under the management of the capital and provincial administrations is a new turning point in carrying out reforms in the healthcare sector in response to the needs.
“This decentralisation is to be prepared step by step and carefully to maintain smoothness in providing healthcare services in line with national health requirements,” Bun Heng said.
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