Over the past two years, COVID-19 has created many challenges, but also presented opportunities for Da Nang’s healthcare sector to come up with many solutions to adapt to new normal conditions. The enhancement of the professional capacity of medical staff at all levels is considered as one of the most remarkable results after many years of fighting against the pandemic, becoming a necessary condition to meet the needs of people's health care in the 'new normal' situation.

Staff at the Da Nang Centre for Disease Control speed up testing to identify and rule out the risk of COVID-19. Photo: PHAN CHUNG

After two years of being assigned by the city’s health sector as one of the three medical facilities to receive and provide treatment for COVID-19 patients, the Hoa Vang District Medical Centre, located in Thach Nham Dong Village, Hoa Nhon Commune, suburban Hoa Vang District, has made a marked change. The most remarkable thing is its advancement in infection control.

According to Dr. Nguyen Dai Vinh, the Director of the Hoa Vang District Medical Centre, infection control in medical facilities has so far not been properly recognised in terms of its important role and associated risks.

As Da Nang was the epicentre of a new coronavirus outbreak in the country in August 2020, medical staff at the Hoa Vang District Medical Centre were provided with intensive training courses on infection control in hospitals by a medical team from the Ha Noi-based Bach Mai Hospital.

Through such rapid but methodical and complete training courses, the centre’s medical staff understood more about infection control in hospitals. That knowledge and experience is still being applied by hospital leaders into practice.

“It is a fact that, in the past, many medical facilities only focused on professional work but neglecting infection control. This is one of the reasons why cross-infection is still a challenge, increasing the risk of infection in many hospitals. Currently, the Hoa Vang District General Hospital has established an infection monitoring team with members being medical workers who took part in the aforementioned training courses", said Dr. Vinh.

Since 2021, the Hoa Vang District Medical Centre has become a satellite unit of the Da Nang General Hospital when its artificial kidney unit (under the Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation), equipped with 14 dialysis machines, has been put into operation. Also, professional training courses have been provided for the unit’s nurses and doctors.

During the stressful time of COVID-19, the Hoa Vang District Medical Centre provided special care for 80 patients with periodic haemodialysis treatment per day.

“With the help of the Da Nang General Hospital and the Military Medical Hospital 17, our hospital is now proactive in providing hemodialysis for patients . This can be seen as a great success for our hospital after more than two years of COVID-19 prevention and control under the assignment and direction of the city and the local health sector" added Dr. Vinh.

The professional maturity is the result of many medical agencies and units during the stressful time when the city combated against the pandemic.

Doctor Ton That Thanh, the Director of the Da Nang Centre for Disease Control (CDC), affirmed that COVID-19 was a "reagent" for the medical facilities’ professional capacity.

As the COVID-19 outbreak occurred in the city for the first time, CDC Da Nang could only test 2,000-3,000 samples per day. During the peak of the COVID-19 surge, the samples tested by CDC were increased to 100,000 per day.

“In order to do that, in addition to purchasing medical equipment and machinery, the human factor is very important. Healthcare workers had to work 24 hours a day to test samples” noted Doctor Thanh.

In particular, the coordination between CDC and other units and localities has markedly changed in the arrangement and transferring of samples to ensure that errors did not occur.

Medical staff had to handle the heavy workload every day. It is also because of pressure that there are creativity and innovation in the way of doing things, meeting the needs of anti-pandemic work in the most stressful time.

According to Dr. Tran Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director in charge of the municipal Department of Health, to meet urgent requirements in pandemic prevention and control, especially in the context of COVID-19 case surge, the city’s health sector has flexibly deployed many activities to strengthen human resources.

When combating cross-infection becomes a goal when COVID-19 cases are on rise, the local health sector has organised industry-wide training courses for more than 7,200 medical workers on infection control, and treatment and care methods for COVID-19 patients with mild and moderate, and asymptomatic ones.

For the treatment and nursing care of severe and critical COVID-19 patients, eight training courses on hemodialysis, and diagnosing and treating respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients have been organized for more than 250 healthcare workers.

Dr Thuy highlighted the vital role of the grassroots medical force in implementing activities in pandemic prevention and control. In addition to related professional tasks such as tracing, testing, organizing monitoring and quarantining F1, treating F0 (confirmed cases) at home, commune and ward health centres must also complete the population health target programs in the sector. Especially in the current context when the national government and the Ministry of Health promulgate regulations and guide localities to implement the "new normal state" and organize home-based F1 quarantine, F0 treatment, grassroots health workers have to perform multiple tasks at the same time.

“The grassroots health system not only is the core healthcare force in the immediate pandemic prevention and control activities, but also in the long term, will become an increasingly effective primary health care unit for the people”, said Dr. Thuy.

Reporting by PHAN CHUNG – Translating by M.DUNG