According to a government survery, more than 14,000 emergency patients were rejected by hospitals in Japan at least three times before getting treatment in 2007.

The results of the survey came amid frequent reports in Japan of patients being rejected because doctors are not available or hospitals lack adequate facilities.

At least 3.5 percent of cases in serious condition were rejected three times or more by hospitals, according to a compilation of reports by ambulance workers conducted by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Of the 411,625 patients in serious condition whose cases were reviewed, 14,387 were rejected more than three times by hospitals, according to the survey. A serious condition was defined as meaning the patient would need more than three weeks of hospitalization.

Patients were rejected because hospitals and clinics did not have enough staff or adequate facilities, according to the survey. Hospitals also said their beds were full.Hospitals in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka rejected patients more often than those in smaller cities, the survey showed.

The survey underscores Japan’s health care woes, in part created by a shortage of doctors in the country’s rapidly aging society.

Source: Mainichi JP

Its sad to see that even developed nations such as Japan are facing problems of inadequate staffs and facilities in the health care sector. Hows the health care in your country like? I know that some countries offer free medical benefits. In Singapore, hospital bills are really expensive, so its better to just keep our own bodies healthy.