Red Cross hospitals under inspections

Facilities must follow humanitarian principles in providing treatment

Chinese hospitals that use the Red Cross as part of their name will be examined in a June campaign jointly launched by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health, said Zhao Baige, executive vice-president of the country's biggest humanitarian organization.

The final results of the first-ever rectification campaign on the mainland will be made public after it is completed, Zhao told China Daily in an exclusive interview. Hospitals that fail to meet requirements will be stripped of the right to name themselves after the Red Cross.

"Currently, some hospitals take on the title of the Red Cross, which could help build trust with patients, but in fact operate merely in pursuit of profit," she said.

The Red Cross Society of China is still struggling to rebuild its image, which was damaged by Guo Meimei, a young woman who claimed to be a Red Cross official and showed off her lavish lifestyle online last year. The improper use by some hospitals of the Red Cross name has also damaged the reputation of the humanitarian organization.

In November, a hospital named after the Red Cross in South China was deprived of naming rights after a widely reported medical malpractice case.

The Nanhai Red Cross Hospital in Foshan city, Guangdong province, wrongly diagnosed a newborn boy who was still alive as a stillbirth, and disposed of the infant.

"That seriously tarnished the image of the Red Cross," Zhao said.

According to Zhao, qualified Red Cross hospitals must meet basic requirements to practice medicine, which are mainly verified and regulated by health authorities.

Equally important, "they have to maintain the humanitarian spirit in practice and have the capacity to carry out humanitarian medical aid", she added.

"Those hospitals that only want to profit from the Red Cross brand will be detected and kicked out," she vowed.

According to Wang Ping, director of the society's relief and health department, more than 2,000 public and private hospitals on the mainland use the name of Red Cross.

The RCSC and its local branches and health administrations at different levels have historically granted naming rights to hospitals, but "there was a lack of rules regulating the practice and verifying the quality of such hospitals," Wang said.

After the campaign, the ability to issue naming rights will be restricted to the RCSC and its provincial-level branches, Zhao said.

The medical practices of the hospitals will still be regulated and supervised by health authorities, said an official surnamed Liu with the medical administration department under the Ministry of Health.

As part of the new campaign, "we'll also draft regulations on accrediting medical institutions with naming rights", Zhao added. A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, and experts invited both by the RCSC and the Ministry of Health will discuss the issue, she said.

Yang Zhanqing, who heads the Beijing Yirenping Center, a civil society committed to promoting social justice, urged the society to also include representatives from the general public in the discussion.

His organization recently mailed a petition asking the society to better regulate false advertising by Red Cross hospitals.

"They responded very quickly and pledged to take action soon, including during the coming campaign," he told China Daily on Sunday.

shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn