大規模病院に医療提供義務　自治体と協定、将来に備え―感染症法改正案を閣議決定

　政府は７日、新型コロナウイルス禍の教訓を踏まえ、公的医療機関など大規模病院に医療提供を義務付けることを柱とした感染症法改正案などを閣議決定した。全ての医療機関に対し、都道府県との医療提供に関する協定の締結に協力するよう求め、次の感染症危機に備える。今国会で成立させ、一部を除き２０２４年４月の施行を目指す。
　医療提供の義務化は、公立・公的医療機関と高度な医療を提供する「特定機能病院」、入院や救急医療など地域医療の中核を担う「地域医療支援病院」が対象となる。
　都道府県は病床確保数などを定めた事前計画を策定した上で、民間診療所を含む医療機関と患者受け入れなどに関する協定を結ぶ。協定締結に向け協議に応じる義務を課す。（2022/10/07-10:12）

The Japanese government adopted at a cabinet meeting on Friday bills partly aimed at obliging large hospitals in the country to keep providing medical services even if patients surge in times of epidemics.
   The government aims to have the bills, including one to revise the infectious disease control law, enacted during the ongoing extraordinary session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, which will run through Dec. 10. The government hopes to put most of the legislation into effect in April 2024.
   Subject to the mandatory provision of medical care will be publicly-run medical institutions, so-called special functioning hospitals, which provide advanced medical care, and regional medical care support hospitals, which play central roles in regional medical care communities.
   The government wants to prepare for future epidemics by asking all medical institutions in the country to cooperate in signing agreements with prefectural governments with regard to the provision of medical care.
   Prefectural governments will draw up medical strategies, including on the number of hospital beds to be secured, and sign agreements with medical institutions, including private facilities, to make them promise to accept patients or take other responses in the event of an epidemic.