Suwanna Thanaboonsombat, a coordinator of the Pom Prab-Phra Nakhon public complaint centre, said on Tuesday that some patients seeking treatment at the hospital had already been told to find other hospitals.

“People are worried that the National Health Security Office [NHSO] will take too long to find alternative hospitals. They fear they will end up having to go to facilities that are far away and inconvenient – that they will have no place to go at all. So we want the NHSO to act urgently,” she said.

Urging people to remain calm and follow updates closely, NHSO coordination centre official Chananchida Thanthapalin said all patients should register for hospital transfers, and they could call the 1330 hotline for more information.

“If people find their newly arranged hospital inconvenient, they can ask for a change,” she said, adding that subscribers could make a hospital transfer up to four times a year.

The NHSO will set up a table to register affected patients at Mahaesak Hospital from September 1 to 15. It would also cover the medical expenses of those patients who were required to remain at Mahaesak after September 30 until they were deemed fit to move, she said.