News Hospitals refusing patients to be penalised

[thomas]

A little too late, but an overdue policy change for the next pandemic: today, the Japanese government decided to introduce penalties for major hospitals that fail to provide outpatient care and prepare beds for patients with COVID-19 and other infectious diseases against prearrangements with local governments.

The government will also set penalties for people entering Japan with suspected infections who fail to report their health conditions when in isolation and establish an agency to act as a command center for responding to infectious diseases in fiscal 2023, it said. [...] The prime minister instructed attending ministers to prepare necessary legislation. The government aims to submit bills on amending the infectious diseases law to reflect the new policies on securing hospital beds and border control measures during an extraordinary parliamentary session expected to be called this fall. The bill for creating an agency on infectious diseases crisis management will be submitted to parliament during its regular session next year, the government said. Medical institutions to be subject to the new rules include those that provide advanced treatments as well as those that support local clinics.

The government also decided to set up an agency to act as a command centre for infectious diseases, modelled on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2025 or later.

Japan to penalize hospitals not accepting infectious disease patients

The Japanese government decides to introduce penalties for major hospitals that fail to provide outpatient care and prepare beds for patients with COVID-19 and other infectious diseases against prearrangements with local governments.

english.kyodonews.net

 

[Petaris]

The government also decided to set up an agency to act as a command centre for infectious diseases, modelled on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2025 or later.

Kicking the can down the alley. Why wait for 2025 before setting up an agency and how in the world do they not already have such an agency?