All families in Beijing can enjoy family doctor services in their residential areas by the end of 2012, the Beijing News reported.

Each family can choose and sign a contract with a round-the-clock family doctor team by their own will and without charge. Every 600 families will share one team, according to the Beijing Health Bureau.

Family doctors will be in regular attendance to provide simple checkups, such as blood pressure. They will give advice on healthcare according to body conditions. Some patients, such as senior citizens, can get treatment at home.

Patients will have their own health documents in which all their health information and medical records can be seen by family doctors.

Patients will not need to pay the register fees required to see a doctor in hospitals, but they still need to pay for treatment and medicines. However, over 500 kinds of basic medicines can be purchased at government purchase prices.

The government hopes the plan can encourage residents to see doctors in grassroots medical institutions for common diseases and chronic ailments. It was planned that by 2015, some 30 percent of medical treatments can be conducted in grassroots medical institutions.

Patients with serious diseases will be transferred to big hospitals within three working days after seeing family doctors.

Family doctor services will be open to all families living in Beijing, regardless of their household registrations, or "Hukou" status. Residents will be presented with contact cards by staff from medical institutions in their residential areas and have the right to stop services or change doctors if they are not satisfied with their family doctors.

The income of family doctors will be related to the evaluation of their performances, including the number of families they serve, patient satisfaction and the recovery from chronic ailments. The overall salary of grassroots medical institution staff will be raised to guarantee better healthcare services.

According to Xu Junfeng, an official from the Beijing Health Bureau, approximately 35,000 to 40,000 medical staff will be needed to meet requirements of family doctor services. At present, there is still a gap of over 10,000 staff members in grassroots medical institutions.

Currently, nearly 150,000 residents of over 64,000 families in Dongcheng, Xicheng and Fengtai Districts of Beijing have piloted the family doctor services program.

(CRIENGLISH.com December 23, 2010)