in the inefficient use of physicians' time, overloading of physicians,
and shortage of drugs and equipment needed for complex treatment. More
than two-thirds of the physicians questioned indicated that they would
prefer to practice at a hospital or other medical unit and that they
planned to leave the polyclinic as soon as another opportunity was
available. The physicians recommended that their work schedule and
method of handling patients be revised to make the system more
efficient; that social workers be assigned to polyclinics to handle some
of the patients' social problems that aggravated their medical problems;
that polyclinic doctors be given more specialized training in rapid
diagnosis and other skills required by them and not by hospital
physicians; and that the remuneration of polyclinic physicians be
brought in line with their arduous assignment.

The patient's response to the inadequacy and inefficiency of polyclinic
health care has been to seek out a physician with a private practice and
pay the necessary fee. Approximately one-fourth of the polyclinic
physicians have a private practice during nonduty hours, as do almost
all specialists. By consulting a private physician rather than the free
polyclinic, the patient can choose his own doctor and establish a
personal relationship with him, hoping to develop confidence and receive
more effective treatment.

The outpatient work of the polyclinics is supplemented by a network of
special dispensaries that provide long-term care for persons suffering
from tuberculosis, venereal disease, tumors and psychoneurotic
disturbances. The sixty-one dispensaries in 1971 also had a total of
3,670 beds for inpatient care.

A network of hospitals provides inpatient treatment and specialized
diagnostic and clinical facilities. All hospitals are also teaching
centers for physicians, nurses, and auxiliary medical personnel. In 1971
there were 195 hospitals throughout the country, at least one in each
district. Certain districts, however, were inadequately equipped with
hospital facilities. The total number of beds was 57,053, or 7.6 beds
per 1,000 inhabitants. One hundred and fifty-four of the hospitals, with
a total of 47,839 beds, were general hospitals. There were also fifteen
special tuberculosis hospitals and fifteen psychoneurological hospitals
with a total of slightly over 3,000 beds in each category; five
pediatric hospitals with a total of 480 beds; four obstetric an