PATIENTS who demand more than 30,000 yuan (US$4,721) in compensation in medical disputes from public hospitals in Shanghai will be required to settle the disputes with medical mediation committees.

The action is part of the city's effort to promote third-party mediation to reduce disturbances at local hospitals.

Starting tomorrow, all public hospitals in Shanghai are not allowed to make direct compensation deals with patients who ask for more than 30,000 yuan, according to a notice jointly issued by the city's justice bureau, health bureau and public security bureau.

The third-party committees, composed of independent members, were introduced by the city on August 23, 2011.

Li Heping, a justice bureau official, said research found medical disputes involving a compensation demand of over 30,000 yuan are usually more complicated and difficult.

"It is hard for hospitals and patients to reach an agreement when the claims are too much. Patients will get emotional and annoyed if their face-to-face negotiation with hospitals fails." If such a dispute gets too contentious, "it is likely to trigger malignant events that disturb normal orders in the hospitals and harm medical staff," Li said. "Mediators will explain relevant rules and regulations to patients and help them make a reasonable demand rather than huge claims that they would never get from hospitals and insurance companies," Li said.

Since August 2011, medical mediation committees across the city have accepted 2,272 disputes and solved 1,623 of them. The success rate reached 71.8 percent and the method proved to be effective to curb on medical disputes, said the city's health authorities.

Despite general success, the mediation work in some areas has not been going well. Only 34 in 100 cases were solved between January and July in Hongkou District.

沪江英语快讯：上海医患纠纷人民调解出台新规，8月30日起，对于患方赔偿诉求在3万元以上的纠纷，公立医疗机构不得与患方自行协商。根据《关于维护本市医疗机构秩序的通告》，各级各类医疗机构将采取设立统一投诉窗口、公布投诉电话等形式接受患者投诉，引导患者通过人民调解等法定途径解决医患纠纷。因为一般索赔金额超过3万元的医患纠纷，往往较为疑难、复杂，仅靠医患双方难以形成一致认可的意见，而且此类纠纷一旦处理不当，容易激化医患矛盾，甚至造成恶性事件，影响正常的医疗秩序。 一旦发生医闹，公安将第一时间介入。