Peking Union Medical College Hospital recently announced that starting August 19, its hospital in Dongcheng district would institute a 24-hour appointment registration service, extending its hours past 8 pm to enable patients to schedule appointments for the following day. Due to the high volume of people that came during evening hours, the hospital announced on August 26 that appointments would instead be given for the following three days.

This service was intended to prevent scalpers. These are people who masquerade as patients and take available appointments, selling them for profit to desperate, sick people. But even with the new policy, people are still having difficulty seeing a doctor. A man in his forties from Zhumadian, Henan Province, had been waiting outside the hospital for three consecutive days, and his relatives also lined up with him in order to make an appointment, with no luck.

Security has also been reinforced to sniff out scalpers and ensure that people in need can get appointments. Though there might be fewer scalpers, the hopeful patients feel that conditions have not improved. Many are not confident that they will get an appointment because by the time they arrived to join the queue, scores of people had been waiting for days.

Outside the hospital, people wait their turn to make an appointment.

Due to long waits, people keep their place in line overnight.

A male patient who has just made his appointment makes his way to the exit.

A long line stretches for nearly 100 meters outside the hospital.

 

People make friends with their neighbors in line while they wait. Photos: Li Hao/GT