Hospital graft claims denied

       Doctors can choose to buy own supplies
       The government has not ordered state hospitals to buy specific supplies as part of the Thai Kem Kaeng national development spending project, Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai says.
       About 86.6 billion baht has been allocated for medical facilities under the Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength scheme.
       Rural doctors claim the project calls for the purchase of medical equipment at inflated prices and local hospitals are not being invited to participate in the procurement.
       However, Mr Witthaya said yesterday that provincial public health authorities and hospital directors had full authority over the choice of medical supplies and could order the supplies that would meet the demands of their patients.
       He denied central authorities had intervened in the procurement process at local hospitals.
       Of the 86.68 billion baht allocated to the Public Health Ministry,60% will go towards putting up public health buildings and the rest towards medical equipment.
       Mr Witthaya said the Public Health Ministry had stepped up measures to ensure the spending was transparent.
       Special working groups would follow all aspects of the project's implementation.
       Khamron Chaisiri, director of the Thai
       Kem Kaeng office, said the ministry had set up a committee to supervise procurement and coordinate the process with hospital directors and public health doctors at the provincial level.
       The ministry, through the committee, will assign experts on procurement, laws and construction to work with provincial authorities,and will field regional inspectors to monitor the spending.
       As part of the public health improvement project,2,151 state clinics will be upgraded to tambon-based hospitals.Each facility will receive 1.35 million baht for the development, with 500,000 baht to go towards construction and 855,000 baht towards medical supplies.
       Local health authorities have come up with 46 items for procurement. They include dentistry units, electrocardiographs, foetal heart rate detectors, massage beds, sonographers and outdoor audio systems.
       However,Pongthep Wongwatcharapaibul, secretary-general of the Rural Doctor Foundation, yesterday said the government was also offering what hospitals did not want, such as UV sanitisers. He also said supplies listed for purchase under the project were overpriced.
       Dr Pongthep said a UV sanitiser was quoted at 40,000 baht but its market price was only 6,000 baht. A respirator was quoted at 1.2 million baht but a hospital had bought one for 500,000 baht. Hospital representatives were not given a say on the choice of medical supplies. A probe was needed into the way the scheme was being run.