Patient re-transfer rate increases by up to 64% after residents leave the field (South Korea)

In South Korea, the number of patients being re-transferred to hospitals increased by as much as 64.8% after a wave of medical residents (interns) left the medical field.
Rep. Lee Suzyn of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, received the documents from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
According to the survey, the number of emergency re-transports due to "insufficient hospital beds" and "absence of specialists" was 1,674 in the six months from March to August this year. In the same period last year, it was 1,225.
Including the number of cases where patients were re-transported multiple times, the number of re-transports during the same period increased significantly from 1,262 to 1,773.
The number of re-transports in March was up 64.8% compared to the same month last year. Rep. Lee Suzyn said, "The sharp increase in the number of re-transports before the ambulance team was able to transport the patient is due to the so-called 'emergency room back-and-forth' trend.
"This means that the number of cases of infection has increased significantly and the damage to patients has been expanded," he said, emphasizing that "the government should proactively take measures to provide relief for the damage caused by the disruption to medical care."