♪ patient doctor disputes have become rampant in china. with tens of thousands of cases reported over the past three years alone. doctors work in constant fear of being attacked or sued.

to resolve disputes, the government launched a third party mediation agency. a system was create d where expert mediators stand between doctors and patients to conduct investigations. in this episode of asia insight, we follow the day-to-day struggles of china's mediation committee of medical disputes as they attempt to ease the tense relationships between patients and doctors. the xuhui district in central shanghai.

the area's home to more than 200 hospitals. nine of them are in the country's top ranking facilities. the xuhui district has the highest concentration of hospitals in all of shanghai. hospitals are constantly overcrowded as many patients come from regions that can't provide adequate treatment. they come in the hope of receiving advanced medical care. but doctors are stretched to their limits and medical bills are usually high. due to the nature of the health care system. patients are left feeling discontented and frustrated.

this is the people's mediation committee of medical disputes for the xuhui district. anyone with complaints about a hospital's treatment or bill can appeal to this third party agency. services began three years ago under the jurisdiction of legal authorities.

among the vis tors on this day is a family who lost a loved one to heart disease. they are claiming that their mother died because doctors neglected to give treatment when her condition suddenly deteriorated. they're demanding that the hospital clarify who is responsible and pay monetary compensation.

zhou is the mediator in charge of this case. to prove that doctors acted negligently, documenting symptoms and treatment are necessary. she advises the family to ask to hospital to disclose its medical reports.

she plans to meet with hospital staff after all the necessary documents are obtained by the deceased patient's family. the mediation committee is funded by the local government with 22 mediators currently working for the xuhui district. all are medical experts who used to work on the front lines of medicine and experience d lawyers. there are they're a crack team with an abundance of knowledge and skill. people who couldn't afford to file lawsuits in the past can now get free legal advice. she became a mediator three years ago. she previously worked as a nurse for over 30 years and was in charge of handling complaints at

her hospital for the last five years before her retirement. she has dealt with hundreds of cases as a mediator, but there is one particular case that still haunts her.

in november 2011, she and her colleagues rushed to a hospital in response to an emergency call. in this security footage, relatives of a patient who died after being refused readmission to the hospital flood the corridor. the chaos disrupts treatments as the relatives start verbally confronting and pushing doctors.

the relatives also took over the doctor's office area.

she began collecting facts and eventually succeeded in having the hospital to apologize and offer compensation. the family's anger subsided and they finally left the premesis. meanwhile, hospitals are becoming more and more disrupted by the increasing number of complaints. dr. zhigang is in charge of patient complaints at this hospital.

the committee asked to hear both sides of the story. it's no easy task trying to determine went wrong and getting patient and hospitals to agree on a settlement. on this day, a nine-month old mediation is about to be settled. a patient in his 30s was first diagnosed with spondylitis, six

months later, it was changed to malignant limb foe ma and he was told it was too late for treatment. his family insists the initial erroneous diagnosis was to blame for his future health problems. mediator joe asks independent medical specialists to investigate to determine the truth. she persuaded the hospital to

offer a consolation payment.

more than 1,700 disputes have been officially mediated by the committee in the past three years. over 80% have been successful. in 2013, it was awarded as a model committee by the national organization. joe still has concerns about a case that was resolved last year.

the man lives in the suburbs of shanghai. 72-year-old tang linsen received surgery for a rectum polyp three years ago.

he received surgery to remove a polyp in his rectum. but he suffered complications from inflammation of his abdomen and had to have surgery a further two times. each time, they removed parts of his intestines. they began to malfunction. and now, he can't control when he defecates without medication. unable to accept hit predicament, he went to the mediation committee last year. he went with feelings of indignation of what happened.

fearing the worst, joe decides to take action.

the committee invited tang and his family in for a meeting. for matters requiring special analysis, the committee relies on the help of independent specialists to ensure an objective investigation. the experts helping with his case are a solid reputation for cancer research and a surgeon specializing in gast row. they begin by trying to establish whether the first surgery to remove the polyp was appropriate or not. they also hear what happened from the patient.

rectum polyps are removed using end scholarshipelements. tang's surgeon however cut open tang's stomach and removed not just the pop polyp, but also the surrounding tissues. he failed to inform tang about the risk of endoscopic surgery. he also wasn't informed of the

risks of complications. details of the surgery and progress are meticulously checked with tang. the staff involved in tang's case are called in. the discussion centers around why surgeons decided to remove large portions of the rectum in the beginning.

the chief surgeon claims he removed large amounts of tissue in the belief that the polyp was a malignant tumor. there is nothing to document that the patient was informed.

the lack of communication between patients and doctors has become a pressing issue in chinese health care. eventually, tang received $25,000 in damages from the hospital. the mediation ended there. a year later, however, tang is is suffering worse than before and still feels bitter. his condition is more aggravated and he's developed a hernia. it's causing him pain and difficult ty in walking.

the mediator tells him he could recover with further surgery, but tang says he's given up hope.

overcoming a patient's distrust of the health care system is far from easy for zhou and her colleagues. china's medical disputes stem mostly from overcrowding, the high cost of treatment and a lack of doctor to patient communication. china's medical mediators are doing all they can to make it happen.

♪ we get germs on our hands that can make us sick ♪ ♪ if we open a door or shake a hand ♪ ♪ we spread those germs throughout the land ♪ ♪ so after you go, remember to stop ♪ ♪ shuffle to the sink and do the hand-wash bop ♪ ♪ scrub with soap and take your time ♪ ♪ for 15 seconds, then rinse 'em and dry 'em ♪

♪ it's nice to share at home, in school ♪ ♪ but sharing germs ♪ is never cool ♪ wash your hands

welcome to "newsline." this is thursday, december 11th. i'm katherine koayashi in tokyo. police in hong kong are preparing to remove barricades at a demonstration site on thursday saying it will start the operation shortly. despite the warning thousands of protesterers are gathering in the area. some may try to remain at the site and resist the police action. authorities announceded earlier this week that they will remove protesters' tents and barricades near government headquarters in the