Annulment of the regulation on organizational structure for nutrition in hospitals in Vietnam

Annulment of the regulation on organizational structure for nutrition in hospitals in Vietnam

Circular 18/2020/TT-BYT, promulgated by the Minister of Health, will be partially abolished according to the provisions of Circular 08/2024/TT-BYT.

Circular 08/2024/TT-BYT will abolish Articles 6 and 8 of Circular 18/2020/TT-BYT, which regulate nutritional activities in hospitals, including the regulations on the organizational structure concerning nutrition in hospitals.

The contents of this regulation are as follows:

(1) Organizing nutritional activities:

Based on the Organizational and Operational Regulations of the hospital, the establishment of a Nutrition Department or a Nutrition Unit within the hospital's clinical block is implemented as follows:

- For hospitals with a scale of 100 beds or more, a Nutrition Department must be established. For every 100 beds, there must be at least one person specializing in nutrition.

- For hospitals with fewer than 100 beds, if a Nutrition Department cannot be established, there must be a Nutrition Unit, or a full-time person in charge of nutrition.

(2) The Nutrition Department must have the following units:

- Nutrition Counseling Unit.

- Therapeutic Nutrition Unit.

- Policy Processing and Supply Unit.

If there is no Policy Processing and Supply Unit, the hospital must enter into a contract with an external organization or individual to process meals directly at the hospital. This organization or individual must be subject to the professional and food safety supervision of the Nutrition Department.

In addition to abolishing the provisions of Circular 18/2020/TT-BYT, Circular 08/2024/TT-BYT also partially abolishes the following three Circulars:

- Clause 3, Article 5 and Clause 3, Article 8 of Circular 30/2020/TT-BYT, which provides detailed guidance and implementation measures for certain provisions of Decree 146/2018/ND-CP guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Health Insurance.

- Clause 3, Article 4, Article 5 of Circular 21/2020/TT-BYT, guiding the practice for issuing medical practice certificates to general practitioners, and the Practice Evaluation Form for medical examination and treatment attached to Circular 21/2020/TT-BYT.

- Article 13 of Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT concerning the management and use of food additives.

More details can be found in Circular 08/2024/TT-BYT, which takes effect from May 24, 2024.

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