Absence of specialist doctors leads to 40% of emergency patient re-transfers

Four out of ten emergency patients who are not treated at the first hospital they are taken to and are transferred to other hospitals do not receive immediate care due to the absence of specialist doctors.

According to data submitted to Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Kim Sun-min from the National Fire Agency, 119 ambulances performed 4,227 re-transfers nationwide. Of these, 4,113 involved a single re-transfer, 84 involved two re-transfers, 14 involved three re-transfers, and 16 involved four re-transfers.

The primary reason for these re-transfers was the absence of specialist doctors, accounting for 41.9% of all cases, or 1,771 instances. Other reasons included a lack of hospital beds (635 cases, 15%), completion of initial emergency treatment (476 cases, 11.3%), changes of mind by the patient’s family or relatives (141 cases, 3.3%), and intoxicated individuals who did not require emergency treatment (43 cases, 1.0%).

Lee Kyung-won, public relations director of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine, explained, “Re-transfers due to the absence of specialist doctors occur because there are no specialists in essential fields such as neurosurgery or cardiac surgery, even though there are emergency medical specialists in the emergency room."

Lawmaker Kim emphasized the urgent need to secure specialist doctors for emergency rooms amid a critical shortage of medical services. “To reduce the number of re-transfers caused by the absence of specialist doctors, relevant ministries and departments must reexamine the emergency medical treatment system and develop alternatives," he said.