Regarding the revision of the classification of the new corona infectious disease law to 5 types, doctors who deal with patients with fever outpatients will leave the work of hospitalization adjustment, which has been handled by public health centers, to medical institutions, and the burden will increase. There are voices of concern that this may not be the case.
Saitama clinic
"Ayumi Clinic" in Kasukabe City, Saitama Prefecture, in addition to general medical care for patients with diabetes and asthma, has set up a prefabricated outdoor fever outpatient clinic to treat patients with symptoms such as fever.
Currently, when a new corona patient is hospitalized, the public health center is in charge of coordinating the receiving hospital, but in the case of patients other than corona, the doctor and nurse who examine the patient are in charge of coordinating.
They are often refused because there are no beds available at the hospital where they are accepted, and sometimes they are treated with oxygen inhalation and intravenous drip for a long time without being able to find a hospital.
Regarding the review of the Infectious Diseases Law classification to Category 5, Dr. Makiko Fujikawa of the clinic said, ``Even now, it is very difficult to adjust the hospitalization of people other than Corona, and even if the staff responds for several hours, they cannot be found, but it is classified as Category 5. If we have to make adjustments for the coronavirus, we will run out of people due to lack of manpower.I would like the public health center to gradually let go of the hospitalization adjustment rather than suddenly stop it." I was.
On the other hand, ``If corona patients can be treated at any medical institution, even if the number of corona patients increases, they will be dispersed to other medical institutions, and the concentration of patients at medical institutions with fever outpatient clinics will be resolved. , I hope that I will be able to work on the examination with plenty of time."
Doctors at clinics that do not have a fever outpatient clinic
Regarding the revision of the classification of the new corona infectious disease law to 5 types, medical institutions that have not established fever outpatients until now have pointed out problems such as the difficulty of infection control. I was.
Dr. Shohei Yuasa (64), director of "Shohei Clinic" in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, opened the clinic about 20 years ago and has accepted a wide range of patients in the area.
Three years ago, as the spread of the new coronavirus spread, more medical institutions set up fever outpatient clinics, but this clinic did not because it was difficult to handle.
One of the challenges is “zoning” to separate potentially infected patients from other patients.
In this clinic, which is about 40 square meters, there is one waiting room and one examination room, and it is difficult to separate the flow lines for each.
70% of outpatients are elderly, many of whom have chronic diseases, and many of them are at high risk of becoming severe.
On the other hand, Dr. Yuasa himself has dealt with corona patients to the extent possible, such as working once a week at a hospital with a fever outpatient clinic and treating patients at an emergency clinic at night on holidays.
Dr. Yuasa said, "Being classified as type 5 does not mean that the infectivity of the corona will be reduced, so it may be difficult for doctors who have not seen the coronavirus in the outpatient clinic to see the corona for a while." I explained.
On top of that, he said, ``Patients' awareness will change, thinking that any medical institution will see them because they are category 5, and in reality, if this is not the case, it is possible that the site will be quite confused. I think it's necessary, but I want you to consider the situation on the ground and proceed."