i was wondering if i could get some input about this issue i´m having right now…
I went to the ER on Sunday night and presented my case. Since i have an history with that issue and it could be a potentially life threatening issue i assumed there would be a quick response to it. Now the ER doc said, he couldnt do much about it now, i can either wait in the ER til next day or i would have to come back next day and make a entirley new case. So i made another appointment with a regular doc in that hospital the next day. I stated my case and i´m sure he understood what i told him (in english). He then gave me an appointment for Sonography the next day and initally gave me another appointment to discuss results with him end of month and after intervening he gave me an appointment end of week…
Now my issue with this is, that the response time is way too long for that. When i had issues with that in the past in Germany, we were maybe talking about 1/2 - 1 day max until i had results because if something is wrong, the faster the treatment in that case the better.
Here it seems that the doctors arent too overly concerned about that which makes me worry (a lot). Is this standard, how can one escalate this to get results quick?
I went to Mackay Hospital in Danshui as i thought that might be a respectable place. I´m not covered under the national health care system yet have international health insurance, so in this regard there shouldnt be any issue at all either… Any ideas what to do?
Welcome to socialised medicine. Your untimely death is part of the social contract and a well calculated risk curb for the NHI. You can see a perverted version of delaying treatment until the patient dies in Canada and the UK.
Dunno about your case, but mine -peritonitis- was solved in a matter of hours -sooner if I had cooperated, but I had to take care of my pets first. I was walking and talking and thinking it was just some stomach infection. They took one look at me, sent me for X rays and blood test, results were out in 20 minutes, doctor wanted to knock me out right then and there. Sent me to the surgeon -immediately- waited 10 minutes, he drew my papers and had my room ready in less than 30 minutes. Meaning in less than 3 hours I was -not very cooperatively- under the knife.
This was Cardinal Tien, a small, training hospital in Xindian, New Taipei. In general, I am quite satisfied with the service in many hospitals here that I’ve attended. I remember my first bad bronchitis, the small clinic doctor I usually went to for colds said “this is too serious, go to a big hospital”. They know their limits. ER is limited in terms of what exams they can do. Without exams, they are blind.
It does help though if they have your history at the hospital. You gotta know who to trust. ER’s everywhere are always a mess, hit and miss, just ask any doctor.
Language issues are also a big problem. In this case, it is logical to go to the Adventist or any other hospital with English speaking staff -though Taida is not recommended, they are simply too busy to care well.
However, I do agree sometimes it is rather unnerving the not so pressing attitude. For instance, I was really relieved in japan regarding allergy awareness. Only once it was necessary for them to kick me out of a place when I explained my fish allergy problems -their soup had some bonito flakes- otherwise most would point to the non allergic items in the menu and had the ingredients list for consultation.
Priority Care center specifies that you must go to the ER if your matter is an emergency.
To be fair, it doesnt seem all that bad here. I was just a bit suprised how things are “prioritized” here… So i went to my scheduled echography the very next day (the plan was if they would have diagnosed something to just nerve some doctors at their door til they take care of it.) and i had no wait, the technician and a doc. were present so they could rule out the issue i was concerened about, and all in all it cost me 1.3k, which imo is very cheap.
To be fair, it doesnt seem all that bad here. I was just a bit suprised how things are “prioritized” here… So I went to my scheduled echography the very next day (the plan was if they would have diagnosed something to just nerve some doctors at their door til they take care of it.) and I had no wait, the technician and a doc. were present so they could rule out the issue I was concerened about, and all in all it cost me 1.3k, which imo is very cheap.[/quote]
Access to specialists and tests is extremely fast here compared to most places. Not sure about your case but most of the time you can get tests right away.
As for how things are prioritized, I don’t think you can make that judgment from one visit. Every doctor and hospital is different. Some doctors are ridiculously lax about testing while others put you through the works. If you know something needs urgent care then go see another doctor.
As for the Priority Care Centre, I used to go when Simon Chan was head doctor. He now has his own practice. The current docs are near quacks. One recommended prayer, yes fucking prayer, to deal with the pain of my compacted vertebrae. She also gave me a painkiller which turned out to be used for psychosis and I barely made it home without passing out.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]
As for the Priority Care Centre, I used to go when Simon Chan was head doctor. He now has his own practice. The current docs are near quacks. One recommended prayer, yes fucking prayer, to deal with the pain of my compacted vertebrae. She also gave me a painkiller which turned out to be used for psychosis and I barely made it home without passing out.[/quote]