Hospital visit
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Although the Thai does not really differ much from the Dutch, you sometimes experience something in Thailand that you will not easily experience in the Netherlands.
Hospital visit
My wife had to go to the hospital for a check-up once and I, as usual, went with her. When she came back from her doctor I realized that I had a big mole on my hip that had become a bit restless. It wouldn't hurt to have a doctor look at it.
After a visit to the reception, I was able to see a doctor who was willing to remove it. And he saw three other spots that it wouldn't hurt to remove either. It was already a quarter past twelve and the doctor said he was going to have lunch first and then he would start the carving. My wife and I also went to eat something and we were back at one o'clock.
At a quarter past one a nurse arrived in a wheelchair and took me to the operating room. There a nurse took over and I had to change into surgical gowns. Then the nurse took me to the operating table where I had to lie; the arms of the operating table were unfolded and my wrists were tied to them (is that normal?). A piece of cloth was also hung above my chest so that I could not see anything of the operation. A little later two more nurses arrived, the doctor who had examined me that morning and a second doctor. The two of them started cutting, although I couldn't see or feel it because of the local anesthesia. At one point, however, I could smell what they were doing: cauterizing my blood vessels.
Afterwards I was given painkillers (not necessary luckily) but to my great surprise no antibiotics; fortunately I had met a doctor who was so confident in his skills that he did not think it necessary. He turned out to be right.
Quite a bit different from what I experienced in the Netherlands about 15 years ago for a similar case. First go to the doctor of course and then to the dermatologist. But due to the enormous waiting lists, I only got to see that man after months. Another month later, finally action. What took months in the Netherlands took just two hours in Thailand. By the way, I certainly do not want to indicate that medical care in the Netherlands is substandard.
Now my experience involved a private hospital in Ubon, but one where it is estimated that only 1% of visitors are farang. It is therefore not nearly as expensive there as in some hospitals in Bangkok and Pattaya. I have also been to a government hospital, where it was desperately busy and I could not imagine that the patients were receiving good care.
However, I recently went to a new and spacious government hospital just outside the city of Ubon and there was a pleasant peace and quiet and not all beds were occupied. There were also plenty of nurses. Yet family members there also stayed with the patient day and night, but that didn't really seem necessary to me. It was probably more a matter of duty and habit, I suppose.
Also MY experience: the waiting times in NL are expressed in days and in TH in minutes, whereby the treatment also continues one after the other and comes back several times in NL. The time that the patient spends on this has never interested any medical practitioner.
Knowledge, skills and equipment… well, they don't differ that much.
Hi Hans,
Could you please be more specific about which hospitals you are talking about and where I can find them. I know Sanpasit and Ubonrak. I'm curious about that hospital outside Ubon.
grt
The Ubonrak is indeed the hospital with which I have had good experiences. That hospital outside Ubon is โรงพยาบาล 50 พรรษา มหาวชิราลงกรณ. From the ring road you go north on the 2050 and then after 1.5 km you turn right. Then it's about a kilometer. There is also ample parking space.
It is not entirely clear to me what the author wants to show with this story.
That you are often helped quickly is true as a bus.
Whether the treatment is medically necessary is often very questionable.
The excess of medications you are given make no sense.
In the six years that I have lived here I have seen too much and too often how the Thai doctors function at acquaintances . The few good ones out there can't make up for the fumbling of the rest.
So use common sense when you go to the doctor here.
Antibiotics are absolutely unnecessary and even contraindicated for such an operation.
I think a Thai is much more patient than a Dutchman and I must say after a number of visits to different hospitals I have adopted that.
After giving blood early in the morning, you can have a quiet meal and talk to the doctor in the afternoon or have an MRI or X-ray taken before then.
Every visit starts with measuring blood pressure and weight and in some cases they also hold the temperature meter at your ear.
The doctors who work in private hospitals also do the same in government hospitals where I think they work 1 or 2 days.
That it would be worse here than in the Netherlands makes no sense, why watch out!!
My wife and I have always been well served here. But if someone does not have confidence in it, he will still go to the Netherlands, count on a longer stay with all those recall actions to make it especially interesting for the doctor and the hospital.
I can confirm Peter's statement in this case. I am in a situation where I no longer know what is good and what is not good. I am currently in hospital due to a foot infection that has now lasted almost 4 months. Filled with drugs. This was the result of an accident 6 years ago where mistakes were also made. Cost of a breakage only with metal plate more than 100.000 baht.
We have also been coming to Thailand for years for the first 3 months of the year. And because I have ear problems, I have to visit the ear doctor at least twice. In the Netherlands it usually takes about 2 to 4 weeks before I can go the first time. In HuaHin I go to the hospital and I am immediately helped without an appointment and then get an appointment to come again in about 5 weeks. And if necessary, just come earlier, without an appointment.
Has a biopsy been sent in to see if the excision has been 'clean'? Has there been any follow-up? These are issues that also apply to (alleged) skin cancer.
That indeed happened. Happy clean.
It is normal for your arms to be tied at the wrists on the operating table, both in the Netherlands and abroad. I have the dubious honor of having had surgery in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and Turkey.
I have now been operated on 3 times in Thailand, but my arms have never been tied...
Indeed, you will not soon experience in the Netherlands that you can go directly. I have experienced that in the Netherlands you end up on a three-month waiting list, while in Belgium you can still be helped the same day (for an eye condition, so urgent enough).
The problem is mainly here (in the Netherlands), due to a policy that is apparently aimed at limiting the supply. I think this will be less known to our Belgian readers (because it is not an issue in Belgium).
Nevertheless, nice to read about hospitals in Ubon; when we are in Thailand we go there regularly and I often wonder where we could go in case of an emergency.
I recognize the story about those bags of medicines. Have also dealt with a Thai hospital (RAM) Chiang Mai on a number of occasions. After consultation with the Netherlands, sometimes half could be scrapped and the other half drastically reduced.
The speed with which you are treated in Thailand is phenomenal. Even at the Hua Hin hospital, which has already been written about elsewhere, the long waiting times are preferable to the appointments where you have to wait months before you see the doctor.
But there is no denying that misdiagnoses are also made here. Now I haven't had to go to the hospital for a serious operation or defect, but still...
A year ago both ears were closed. For the first time in my life. So I got a little nervous about this.
I don't remember exactly what I did, but eventually I went to Hua Hin Hospital and was quickly “helped” by a doctor. Got a prescription for an (I think) anti-biotic, which I had to drip into my ears. The “infection” would then be quickly resolved.
It only got worse.
I knew what I wanted: distilled water and a syringe without a needle. Eventually I found a pharmacy that had it and for little money I had my ears cleaned and my hearing back two hours later.
My wife returned from a doctor's visit at Pranburi Hospital a few years ago. She had a few bags full of pills with her. I then looked up the names of them on the internet, because she did not feel well after taking the prescribed medicine. Then it turned out that one of the pills she had to take had a dose that was intended for a horse, but not for a human. Way too strong.
I do not trust any doctor, both in the Netherlands and in Thailand. Always double check yourself. Too much misery has already happened due to a doctor's misdiagnosis. I lost a brother because a doctor misdiagnosed (to something he could have survived - he was a baby then, before I was born), my grandfather died prematurely due to the wrong medication and my oldest daughter almost died due to the GP thought that she was “acting a little bit”. When we took her to the hospital she was lucky, a few hours later she could have been dead. She was immediately put on an IV.
So Thailand or the Netherlands… serious mistakes are made everywhere. Only: in Thailand you will get rid of it faster, because you will be helped faster.
I just got back from the Philippines. Before I left, I had a rotten tooth that, due to the long waiting lists in Belgium (an appointment must be made months in advance), I had not yet found the time to have anything done about it, so I visited a dentist in the Netherlands. near my hotel.
He could start immediately because there was no one for me, so I made an appointment, never heard of it….
After 20 minutes the tooth was removed, very painless and I had to pay the large amount of 1000 pesos
about 15 euros! The next day I noticed that part of the tooth was left behind, I thought because I felt something with my tongue, but after a while I noticed that the tooth next to the rotten tooth had a large hole and was therefore also affected. So I immediately returned the next day and again I was the first customer and he started immediately. That day his assistant was also present who simply had to indicate all the instruments. That was her only job hehe. The dental nerve was apparently already dead so he could fill the tooth and again I was saved after about 20 minutes after being 1000 pesos poorer again. By then the next customer had already arrived. The dentist's cabinet was in excellent condition and would certainly not have looked out of place in our home.
11 years ago, when I was in the Philippines for the first time, I also had my old dental prosthesis replaced with new teeth. There were a few teeth left as an attachment point for the new teeth and a temporary plastic dental prosthesis was made in anticipation of placement of the procelain teeth a few days later. The plastic temporary dental prosthesis was then cut and the permanent teeth were bonded. After 11 years, there is still no wear on those teeth and I paid around 500 euros for six new teeth and I no longer had to take out my old denture every morning for cleaning.
I have 3 weeks in the Netherlands!!!!! having to wait for surgery with a broken hip. There was no place, but it was “hell”. Despite all the painkillers. That something like this is possible in our cold little country.
Wouldn't it be as bad in Thailand as some claim?
I also recently had to go to the dentist. Made an appointment by telephone and it was my turn 3 days later. I had to wait a little longer because only one dentist in the practice can speak English. Cost of my filling: 800THB.
I indeed hear that you have to wait months in Belgium before you receive further help. The only solution there is to register via the emergency department of a hospital if you really can't wait anymore.
T. v. Grootel, unfortunately there are waiting lists in the Netherlands. In Germany they are considerably shorter, I sometimes hear; that country has 4,5 times more inhabitants and ten times more hospitals. The healthcare structure there is different than ours.
Have you asked your health insurer for waiting list mediation to shorten that time? With the right mediation you can shorten that time; there will probably be an operation here and there from time to time.
By the way, Thailand has waiting lists for university hospitals. But if you have enough money for a commercial hospital, you are more likely to come under the knife. Well, is that fair then?
My wife tells me that a Thai who can use the 30 Baht scheme sometimes has to wait many months in the state hospitals before they are helped.
Dental treatments sometimes take more than a year.
So indeed, if you have money, your turn will come sooner. No, this isn't fair.
My wife also confirms this.
It doesn't surprise me if you see the usually long waiting times in government hospitals for regular consultations. There are certainly many cases where further examination and treatment is necessary, which quickly results in long waiting times.
If you have money, everything can be done faster, of course, especially in the health service.
Is this fair?
Not natural in itself and I think so too.
On the other hand, I am also sure that someone who does not think this is fair and is faced with a problem that he/she wants to be resolved quickly instead of waiting weeks/months, will also open his/her stock exchange more quickly if they have the opportunity. .
They may still think “I don't think it's fair, but my problem has been resolved quickly.”
I drive my father-in-law to the government hospital in Udonthani every month or so.
The queues are indeed immense. There was recently a visit to this hospital by a leader of the Move Forward Party.
The queuing problem is a complex problem with many dimensions. One of these is not the medical capacity or the number of sick people but the logistics. As far as I can judge, there is a world to be gained by improving logistics. Now every patient must go to the same counter (new, repeat appointment, acute or not), all measure blood pressure in the same place. many patients in a wheelchair or lying on a stretcher (which is not necessary), many walking from one department to another, taking out a new serial number everywhere (even to receive the medicines). Matters that can be dealt with by telephone or digitally (results of investigations indicating that nothing is wrong) do not happen. It's just a shame.
Yesterday: repeat appointment with the cardiologist to check all medications. Arrival hospital 8.30 am. Conversation with the doctor: 11.15 am. Medicines: 12.15 pm. Home: 13.00 p.m.