Family doctors taking on bigger workload in city

Shanghai has established a general practitioner-based grassroots health service network to provide local residents with medical services near their homes, the Shanghai Health Commission said ahead of World Family Doctor Day on Wednesday.

Currently, more than 8.15 million local residents have GPs, covering 30 percent of the population. Among the key population such as children, the elderly, those with chronic diseases and pregnant women, over 77 percent have signed GP service agreements. Among the elderly with disabilities, over 90 percent have signed GP to offer health care and guidance.

An increasing amount of health-care services are provided at community-based health facilities, which offer family bed service for bedridden patients, hospice care and extended outpatient service to cover noon and weekends.

Community health centers have been ranked first among all health-care service providers in the city for five consecutive years, and more than 68 percent of the centers have met the standards for national excellence models, highest in the nation.

Community-based health-care services account for more than one-third of total outpatient services in the city. During last year's coronavirus outbreak, community-based outpatient services accounted for over 70 percent of health-care services provided in the city, because services in public hospitals were greatly restricted and influenced by the pandemic, the commission said.