Competition between hospitals must not risk safety of patients

ON SATURDAY, Yang Shaolei, the former head of the mental health department at Guihang Guiyang Hospital in the city of Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, reportedly brought 64 inpatients to his new employer, Guiyang No 6 People's Hospital, without notifying the former. Thepaper.cn comments:

The incident in Guiyang highlights some of the problems in the medical sector: the competition among hospitals, the tense relationships between doctors and the hospitals they serve, as well as between doctors and patients.

The medical reform over the past several years has placed an emphasis on allowing doctors to freely move from one hospital to another and promoting fair competition among hospitals. Yet how to ensure fairness in the process remains a question to be answered. What if hospitals refuse to let doctors leave? What if doctors are trained in a hospital and then leave for another?