AN online hearing on improving the service quality of community clinics will be held Oct. 19, according to a notice from the Shenzhen health commission.

The hearing will focus on measures to establish real-name-based electronic files, open a basic public health service market and eliminate community clinics that are ranked at the bottom.

According to the draft rule up for public discussion, the community clinics that are ranked in the bottom 15 percent in the year-end evaluation will be ordered to rectify within a given time period and face budgetary expense reductions. Those community clinics that are at the bottom of the evaluation ranking by the district health authority for two straight years will be eliminated.

Despite increasing subsidies to clinics from 20 yuan per patient in 2009 to 70 yuan per person, the city’s service quality hasn’t seen improvement, according to the commission.

However, the last-place elimination mechanism has drawn doubts and criticism from the public as different community clinics are under different conditions regarding personnel, location and equipment.

Many netizens opposed the introduction of private investment into public health services, while others suggested that the health commission tighten supervision whether clinics are privately funded or publicly funded. (Richard Han)