The difficulties families face getting medical treatment for children could be eased with an innovative pediatric medical service mode.

In China, people often complain that the reason it is so difficult to get access to good medical service is because of the unbalanced distribution of medical resources.

Top notch medical resources and doctors are too often concentrated at the large first-level hospitals and patients have gotten into the habit of rushing to these large hospitals when they feel unwell, sometimes with even minor ailments.

As a result, most of the major hospitals across China are bursting at the seams.

The phenomenon has become even worse in pediatric hospitals, where medical resources had already been strained for long time.

Shanghai is exploring a new way to solve the challenges of getting improved medical services in pediatric hospitals in a combined effort led by the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University and the Children' Hospital of Fudan University.

The first of its kind in the country, the program aims to help all member hospitals fully exploit their own strengths and features by giving them the same resources, training and management up to the same standards.

A total of 10 hospitals with pediatric and neonatal medical services from the city's nine districts, both suburban and downtown areas, are included in the program. By integrating the medical resources, these hospitals will carry out comprehensive cooperation in improving medical quality, service, academic development and information exchange.

"To offer professional medical services with different levels and under a unified management group is an inexorable trend for the development of pediatric medical service," said Huang Guoying, president of the Children's Hospital of Fudan University. "Some developed countries have already accumulated some good experiences, but it is still fresh in China."

"By integrating resources and improving management and service, children patients can receive the same medical treatments at the second- or third-level hospitals as those in first-level large hospitals. Besides that, for patients with chronic diseases, this new mode helps them ensure the continuity of treatment and reduce unnecessary tests and costs," Huang added.

Under the new mode, a talent cultivation and training system with various incentives and support was also established to help ease the problems of the shortage of pediatricians and nurses.

So far, there are 1,500 beds and more than 500 pediatricians among member hospitals. In 2014, the patient visit in the outpatient and emergency departments exceeded 3 million, increasing 7.9 percent over the previous year, according to the Children's Hospital of Fudan University.

wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn