ON SATURDAY, Yang Shaolei, the former head of the mental health department at Guihang Guiyang Hospital in the city of Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, reportedly brought 64 inpatients to his new employer, Guiyang No 6 People's Hospital, without notifying the former. Thepaper.cn comments:

The incident in Guiyang highlights some of the problems in the medical sector: the competition among hospitals, the tense relationships between doctors and the hospitals they serve, as well as between doctors and patients.

The medical reform over the past several years has placed an emphasis on allowing doctors to freely move from one hospital to another and promoting fair competition among hospitals. Yet how to ensure fairness in the process remains a question to be answered. What if hospitals refuse to let doctors leave? What if doctors are trained in a hospital and then leave for another?

That's where disputes often occur. Reports say Yang submitted a resignation letter to his old hospital but did not get any answer until he took the patients away. For the specific case, it is too early to blame either the doctor or the hospital, because we do not know what happened during their interaction with each other. But only by deepening medical reform can these problems be solved and the legal rights of both doctors and hospitals be better protected.

One thing is clear: Doctors are not salespersons and the patients are not their customers. The 64 inpatients that were "transferred" by Yang did not sign any written consent to be moved. Local supervisors should investigate whether the doctor forced any of them to change hospitals with him.

Obviously, Yang brought the patients together with him because their treatment costs are a big cake for his new employer. Did he play them as cards during his bargaining? Did the new hospital encourage him to do so? If yes, the doctor and the new hospital might have broken the law on fair competition.

The medical industry does have problems and the ongoing reform drive aims to solve them. But whatever the problems are, the law and professional ethics should be observed and patients' safety should come first.