A patient is transported to the emergency room at a university hospital in Seoul, Sept. 3. Yonhap

The number of emergency patient transports to hospitals that took more than an hour increased by 22 percent this year compared with the previous year, a National Fire Agency report showed Saturday, amid the protracted doctor walkout.

According to the report submitted to Rep. Chai Hyun-il of the main opposition Democratic Party, the number of such cases from March to August came to 13,940 this year, up 22 percent from 11,426 cases tallied during the same period last year.

In Seoul, 1,166 cases of ambulance transports exceeding an hour were reported this year, up from 636 the previous year, while the central city of Daejeon also saw a significant increase in such cases from 164 last year to 467 this year.

Chai pointed out that patients were forced to spend more time and travel farther distances to find emergency rooms as an increasing number of hospitals refused to admit emergency patients due to a shortage of medical staff.

He urged the government to immediately address the growing public anxiety over the recent medical disruption.

A majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February to protest the government's decision to sharply raise the medical school admissions quota, prompting major hospitals to cut back on surgeries and other treatments. (Yonhap)