Recently, some female hosts who called themselves doctor’s assistants in an andrology hospital in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province, broadcast live to answer questions about men’s health online and recommended netizens to see a doctor in this hospital. According to
Beijing Youth Daily, these hosts are not medical staff at all and they just help the hospital attract more customers.
Live streaming has taken China by storm, and hospitals are no exception. A popular live broadcast from a male health hospital in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, has drawn fire after the hosts turned out to be completely unqualified. The female hosts, who described themselves as 'doctor's assistants,' answered questions about men's health, and inevitably recommended the hospitals' doctors. But according to a report in
Beijing Youth Daily, the women lack any medical training and the whole affair is just a PR stunt.
There's been lots of complaints about this practice, saying that the stunt could harm patients. Ccommentator Zhang Fengyi, writing on
Xi'an Evening News, criticized this hospital for violating both online regulations and professional ethics.
The “Regulations on Managing Internet Advertisement” stipulate that the ads online need to be clearly marked, but the hospital didn't comply with this, Zhang said. Professional ethics and regulations also forbid medical staff, including those who work in non-medical roles in hospitals, from promoting drugs or medical equipment. Remote medical work, meanwhile, such as phone-ins on health issues, should be done by qualified staff.
Some argued, however, that the show was reasonable as long as the ads weren't over-exaggerated. Qiao Shan, commenting in Jinan Daily, noted that the main problem in this case was the lack of qualifications, since streamed shows could actually be a good way to build trust between doctors and patients - shaping a good image for the hospital in the process.
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