A doctor in Dazhou, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, fell unconsciousness after consecutively treating eight critically ill patients without a break on Friday, in a story that reflects the long hours worked by China's hospital workers.

On Friday morning, the 34-year-old doctor named Liu Chun suddenly passed out, falling off his chair at Dazhou Central Hospital. He hit his head on a medical trolley in front of him, leaving him with a serious cut to his nose. After being treated by his colleagues, he regained consciousness and was rushed to the hospital’s neurosurgery department. Luckily, he had no further injuries.

One of his colleagues, Li Ningqin, told Chengdu Economic Daily that she and Liu began their shift at seven in the morning on Thursday, and then worked until after 7 a.m. the next morning. Within a period of 24 hours, they had treated eight patients in serious conditions, and monitored 23 patients in the hospital's intensive care unit.

“He was completely worn out,” said Li.

“I’m okay. The job is tough but it doesn’t matter. Lives of the patients do. So how can I not work hard?” Liu said in bed.

In China, there is a shortage of skilled doctors compared to the large number of patients, leading to many of them being overworked. A 2015 national survey by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association showed that 85.41 percent of doctors worked more than 40 hours a week on average, among which 32.69 percent worked over 60 hours; and 39.98 percent could not take their entitled annual leave.

To increase the supply of qualified doctors in China, better policies to improve their working conditions and reform of medical training programs are needed.

During this year’s Two Sessions, like in the previous years, the topic was discussed. Liu Yucun, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed that the price structure for medical services should be adjusted.

Liu expressed his belief that the salaries of health professionals must match the work they do. And to accomplish that, hospitalization expenses and operation fees should be increased, while medicines and equipment could cost less, which would also encourage better services.

Li Bin, the Director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, later announced that a payment system reform plan would be introduced this year in an attempt to “let the doctors really focus on their job”.