New | Investigation launched after scalpers found fixing hospital bookings in China, making patients pay sky-high prices to see doctors
Beijing hospital denies appointment touts operating on its grounds but police detain several of them
Security guards at a hospital in Beijing, China, have been accused of colluding with appointment scalpers, forcing patients to fork out exorbitant fees to see their doctors, despite the authorities’ promises to address the issue.
A video that went viral online this week showed a woman at Guanganmen Hospital, a top medical centre, screaming at scalpers for working with its security guards to abuse the appointment booking system.
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The woman said she had queued for two days for a slot to see the specialist to no avail, and that scalpers said her only choice was to pay them 4,500 yuan (HK$5,330) for the 300-yuan appointment. She was told the slot was not available despite her being third in line, yet the scalper behind her managed to book a slot, she said.
The hospital on Tuesday denied its guards were involved and said there was no evidence scalpers were operating on its grounds.
But Beijing police told a different story. “Seven scalpers [from the hospital] were taken into custody on Monday and four were detained,” police said yesterday.
Five more were detained from Peking Medical Union College Hospital and Xuanwu Hospital after the complaint, and a task force had been set up to investigate the matter, police said.