National Health Sercurity Office (NHSO) services for Covid-19 patients at home may soon be ended as most people infected by the coronavirus are receiving treatment in hospitals, the office's secretary-general said on Sunday.
Dr Jadej Thammathacharee said the NHSO has been arranging home care services for patients who are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms.
However, most of these patients are now opting to visit hospitals where they are entitled to receive free treatment. So the NHSO's home isolation service may no longer be necessary, he said.
Before scrapping service, the NHSO will consult the Department of Medical Services to have the guidelines amended.
Budgeting is not a factor, Dr Jadej insisted, as there will still be money from the government to fund necessary treatments even if the disease is declared endemic on July 1.
As for the next fiscal year, which starts on Oct 1, a budget for Covid-19 treatments has already been included in a plan to allocate money to healthcare service units under the NHSO's universal health scheme, he said.
The future of the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients Plus scheme for Covid-19 patients with moderate and severe symptoms, meanwhile, will be decided by the Department of Health Service Support (UHS), he said.
The no-fault financial compensation programme for people suffering adverse effects following Covid-19 vaccination will still be in place for at least two years before switching to the regular no-fault compensation programme for suspected medical malpractice under the UHS, he said.
NHSO won't scrap its free antigen testing to help disease control, he said.
