The Department of Health wants to open more mobile "family clinics" in every province over the next 10 years. In addition to better accessibility, this should reduce the pressure on government hospitals. The current 'community health promotion units' will be transformed into clinics for this purpose.
The clinics will be tasked with providing care for less serious illnesses. Each team is led by a doctor and also consists of nurses, a dentist, pharmacist, health professionals and an expert in traditional medicine.
The patients go to a hospital in the tambon where the teams work or they are visited at home when they are not mobile. There are already 596 teams working in the country.
According to Sophon of the Ministry of Health, this set-up is significantly reducing patients in many provincial hospitals and saving Thai travel costs. Another 650 teams are to be added in due course.
Source: Bangkok Post
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I wonder where they're going to get the doctors from.
The fact that hospitals are under pressure is mainly due to the shortage of doctors.
They run from one hospital to another, to fill the gaps.
Hence the huge queues.
Of most "specialists" I still have the impression that their knowledge will not exceed that of a Dutch general practitioner.
All over the world doctors are under a lot of work pressure, but that is indeed even worse in Thailand. Many doctors leave state hospitals to work in private hospitals where they earn 2-4 times as much and work fewer hours. Doctors in state hospitals 'must' supplement their earnings by working in a clinic from 5-8 daily, as well as on Saturdays and Sundays. I have great admiration for doctors who continue to work in state hospitals, especially in rural areas.
My reasonable experience with specialists shows that they have considerable knowledge and skills. Many have been partly trained abroad. I absolutely do not share your impression that their knowledge does not exceed that of a Dutch general practitioner.