Hospitals rejected emergency patients in 24,089 cases in 2007

Medical facilities in Japan rejected individual emergency patients in 24,089 cases nationwide last year, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday. Of these, 8,618 cases involved patients younger than 15, and 1,084 cases involved pregnant women, according to the agency's first-ever such survey. Rejections of seriously ill patients, meanwhile, accounted for 14,387 cases, the agency said.


According to the survey, children were rejected mostly because no pediatricians worked at the facilities, while treatment difficulties were cited in the rejection of pregnant women and other patients in serious condition. As for patients under 15, 220 emergency transfer cases were rejected more than 10 times in 15 prefectures including Tokyo, Osaka and Saitama, with one case in Tokyo rejected 34 times.

In 16 child transfer cases, patients had to wait more than two hours before finally being hospitalized, according to the agency. In five of the cases, the patients had to wait more than two and a half hours.

In 53 emergency transfer cases involving pregnant women, the patients were rejected more than 10 times, with one patient in Chiba Prefecture rejected 42 times, the agency said.

Other patients in serious condition were rejected more than 10 times in 1,074 cases, it said.

The rejections were seen mainly in large metropolitan areas, such as Tokyo and Osaka.

"Medical facility staff probably think other facilities will accept the emergency patients as there are many institutions there," said one agency official.