As COVID ripped across China and filled emergency wards, privileged patients cut hospital queues because they knew someone, offered a bribe or paid people with connections.
The practice has long been commonplace in navigating an under-resourced Chinese health system that was severely stretched after Beijing abruptly ended its zero-COVID restrictions in early December, with widespread reports of packed hospitals and mortuaries.
"The higher and more senior your connection, the better the treatment, or the easier the queue-jump. If you know the head of the hospital, then there won’t be trouble getting a bed," a Shanghai doctor said. Doctors and experts said the use of red packets and "guanxi", or connections, to gain access persists.
The National Health Commission and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to requests for comment. "You get 10,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan a month; what kind of money is that for the long hours and the expertise?" said a trainee doctor in wealthy Shanghai, adding that physicians are often in their mid-30s by the time they qualify for such a salary. "It’s humiliating."
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