Jakarta (ANTARA) - Dozens of patients patiently await their turn to be examined at one of the outpatient polyclinics at the Pasar Minggu Hospital.
In general, health services in Jakarta are currently far better than in other regions, indicating that the patients' queue was not too long.
However, there is still a need to improve health services nationwide, as several public health centers (puskesmas) in certain regions only have doctors available on certain days.
In addition, some patients have to travel for hours to receive services from doctors.
The ratio of doctors to the population in Indonesia is not ideal, standing at 0.42 doctors per one thousand population, compared to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s ideal ratio of one doctor per one thousand population.
One of the factors that may lead to the lack of doctors is the difficulty of obtaining the registration certificate (STR) and practice license (SIP) from professional organizations.
This concern has led some doctors to create the STR Fighter Doctor Forum and Diaspora (Doctor Having Difficulty in Practicing) as a symbol of their struggle.
Pharmaceutical workers and nurses also face similar issues, where difficulty receiving competency acknowledgement from professional organizations has resulted in several graduates being unable to apply their knowledge immediately.
To ensure patient safety, doctors and health workers have to undergo a lengthy process before applying their knowledge, even though several doctors are ready to provide services.