At the same time, the patients faced strict controls from the hospitals that required them to follow a daily schedule and move within designated areas, the report said, and failure to comply with rules led to physical abuse.<\/p>\n
The reporter said they had witnessed staff at multiple hospitals slapping the patients, hitting them with a water pipe and tying them to the bed.<\/p>\n
Some were kept in hospital for years, while contact with the outside world was cut off. One patient at a hospital in Yichang told the reporter they \u201cfelt like they were in prison\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report triggered a public backlash, with many questioning whether this was a common phenomenon across China and raised fears that hospitals were failing to treat those who needed it, while others were needlessly kept in hospital.<\/p>\n
Communist Party mouthpiece People\u2019s Daily called for an investigation, saying: \u201cThe hospitals treat the healthcare insurance fund as a cake to be taken and used as they please, converting patients\u2019 health conditions into figures in their accounting books \u2026 It\u2019s not only a blatant defiance of the law but also tramples the bottom line of morality.\u201d<\/p>\n
It called for stricter regulatory measures and coordination between government departments to expose those behind the scam in Hubei, adding that this would set a good example for a national crackdown.<\/p>\n