Beijing looks to cure its medical malaise

The capital's top legislative body is mulling proposals to improve its controversial 'dual-number' system for emergency health services, as Wang Xiaodong reports.

Beijing's emergency medical services will be subject to stricter regulation and greater scrutiny if a draft proposal currently being reviewed by the Beijing People's Congress becomes law.

The draft specifies a number of stringent, mandatory standards and procedures to eradicate profiteering, ensure that service providers dispatch ambulances immediately after receiving emergency calls and guarantee that patients are always either taken to the nearest possible hospital, or to a hospital specified by their family.