A Chinese psychiatrist who took 64 mental patients with him when he moved to a better-funded hospital has sparked debate about doctors’ professional freedoms as China tries to encourage private capital to enter its strained healthcare system.
A state-run hospital in the southern province of Guizhou notified police last week when Yang Shaolei, its director of psychiatry, transferred all but one of his ward’s patients to a privately backed rival after submitting his resignation.
Over the weekend, Guihang 300 Hospital vowed to sue Dr Yang, attacking his actions as “an organised violation of medical consent and medical professional guidelines . . . which tramples on industry rules for healthy competition”.