Seventy-six-year-old Zhang Sujiang underwent an eye operation last September.
　　But unlike the majority of other operations, Zhang, who had been blind for years from a cataract and plagued by serious heart and kidney problems, made a notarization before surgery.

"No one can be sure what could happen during such an operation, which might bring about other serious health problems because the patient's health condition is too poor," said Feng Jun, director of the Cataract Surgery Centre of the Eye Hospital under the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"For the sake of the patient, we adopted notarization before carrying out the surgery, which helped the patient's side and our side to reasonably share the risk of the surgery," said Feng, who conducted the surgery.

Before turning to the centre, Zhang had been repeatedly turned down by at least four hospitals, which feared the surgery would be extremely hazardous due to her poor health.

Feng explained that the notarization included possible risks during the surgery and stated the responsibilities of both sides.

"Actually, its content was the same as surgery consent, which is a common practice and must be signed by the patient's side before each operation," he said.

The only difference was the involvement of the third party - the notary office, which acted as a supervisor and made the process more objective, he added.

"It was the first time we invited the involvement of the notary office, as we could not think of other ways to prevent a possible dispute," Feng said.

Chinese hospitals have faced an increasing number of patient disputes in recent years. While in some extreme cases patients have resorted to violence against doctors, in most situations they have brought doctors and hospitals to court, claiming that the doctors should be held responsible for the failure to cure them.

An evaluation mechanism with obvious loopholes in identifying the doctors' negligence in failed medical treatment has also added to the disputes between hospitals and patients.

"The notarization clarified the risks and duties for both doctors and patients," said Huang Anjiang, with the Beijing-based Chang'an Notary Office. "Introducing notarization into medical treatment is a way to protect both parties."

Huang's office provides 10 to 20 notarizations prior to surgical operations each year.

However, both Huang and Feng insisted notarization is not a panacea for the increasing number of medical disputes.

"Notarization can only serve as an auxiliary means to prevent and reduce medical disputes," said Huang. "The practice can be spread but should not be overly used."

Feng said notarization is only introduced for a few high-risk operations and will not be commonplace.

"It is still worth discussing to seek a better way to evade disputes during high-risk surgery," he said.

Feng said his centre had made all-round preparations before the surgery, including inviting cardiac experts to help, as well as contacting emergency assistant centres.

　　From ChinaDaily.com.cn