Improved medical services at Chinese public hospitals over past decade

BEIJING -- China has taken a slew of measures to upgrade medical services and strengthen capacity building at public hospitals over the past decade, said the National Health Commission (NHC).

The country has continued to promote the comprehensive reform and high-quality development of public hospitals, which are the mainstay of China's medical service system, the NHC said at a media conference on Wednesday.

Efforts have been made to accelerate the expansion of quality medical resources and balanced regional distribution of medical services, and to establish a new pattern of orderly diagnosis and treatment.

About half of the public hospitals at or above the level of grade two in China's three-tier hospital grading system now provide medical appointment services, with precise scheduling available at over 4,800 of them, according to the NHC.