It's an ordinary Friday, but it's not ordinary in the hall of the Health Insurance Bureau. On this day, the heads of 18 hospitals were specially invited to participate in a discussion on health insurance policies. It sounds formal, but the atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed, even a bit of a carnival.
The people in charge of these hospitals, everyone is brightly dressed, the suit is straight, and they look high. They stood or sat and talked and laughed, discussing topics ranging from the optimization of medical insurance policies to how to improve the quality of medical services, which seemed to be about the future. But if you listen closely, you will find that there is very little mention of the doctors who are on the front lines of medical care.
At this time, the front-line doctors are busy with their usual work - operating rooms, wards, emergency rooms. They may be undergoing an emergency operation, comforting a patient in dire need of care, or racing against time to try to save a life. Their work was full of sweat and tears, full of tension and pressure, but there was no representation in this discussion that seemed to be about their future.
The symposium lasted several hours. Officials have come up with a number of seemingly glamorous proposals, discussing a variety of new policies that appear to move the healthcare industry forward. Their remarks were recorded and prepared to be released in the following days through various media outlets, praising their insight and efforts.
However, no one mentioned the voices of the doctors who are actually on the front lines of medical care. The ideas and suggestions of these doctors who are really battling the disease and facing life and death, their real views on health care policy, are ignored in such meetings.
As the meeting ended, the hospital leaders left one after another, chatting with satisfaction about how they would present their "results" to the media after the meeting. At the same time, in all corners of the city, countless doctors continue their busy and mundane day, their existence never seems to be touched by this meeting.
This kind of scenario and situation is not uncommon in society, but every time it happens, it deeply reveals a problem: at the top of decision-making, those voices that need to be heard the most are often the most easily ignored. And this is just a microcosm of the medical industry.