China's health authority issues standards for hospitals

The National Health and Family Planning Commission has issued a draft proposal on standards for medical care in hospitals.

The proposal includes target mortality rates for patients. The mortality rate in triple A hospitals should not exceed 800 per 100,000 in-patients and 140 per hundred thousand surgery patients.

Double A hospitals should have a mortality rate of no more than 400 per 100,000 inpatients and below 28 per one hundred thousand surgery patients. The annoucement has triggered public concern that hospitals may turn away the sickest patients or faking statistics to meet the standards.