Thai ER doctor says 10 doctors cannot meet demand

6 minutes ago, Jim Waldron said:

But, 10 doctors on a morning ER shift would be considered lavish staffing in the West. Despite this, the claim is that queues still spill into corridors

I went to emergency last week in canada. 1 doctor in the whole emergency department. Took me over 9 hours just to get in to see her.

She was taking care of approx 40 patients at the time.

2 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

For foreigners living in or visiting Thailand, the post is a reminder that waits at a busy state-hospital emergency department may be lengthy, particularly where patients arrive without life-threatening conditions.

Can't really tell how many farang, if any, are in the above OP picture but any suggestion on this website against farang going to public hospital is a sure-fire thumbs down (I got 4 the last time).

2 hours ago, blaze master said:

I went to emergency last week in canada. 1 doctor in the whole emergency department. Took me over 9 hours just to get in to see her.

She was taking care of approx 40 patients at the time.

Couldn’t have been much of an emergency if it’s worth the 9 hour wait. Is there no where else to seek treatment?

Just now, Brettoj said:

Couldn’t have been much of an emergency if it’s worth the 9 hour wait. Is there no where else to seek treatment?

Does a blood clot in both lungs constitute an emergency ? Not really any other options for us here in canada.

3 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

nurse triage and GP gatekeeping filter out half these cases before they ever reach a doctor.

That's the way we'll do it it Western Hospitals.

Here in Thailand people use the ER service just to avoid cueing,

This attitude is increasing in the West at present.

5 minutes ago, blaze master said:

Does a blood clot in both lungs constitute an emergency ? Not really any other options for us here in canada.

I would class that as an emergency but I’m surprised you had a 9 hour wait in a civilized country.

2 minutes ago, Brettoj said:

I would class that as an emergency but I’m surprised you had a 9 hour wait in a civilized country.

The location played a part in it. Was in a smaller city only about 50k people. Northern part of my province. I was at work not my home city. I went back on monday for a follow up as per my family Dr order. Went at 6am on monday and even then waited over 4 hours to see a Dr.

Those kinds of waits are normal here in my province ...ontario.

Free health care and all that.

Edited August 20Aug 20 by blaze master

The govt hospitals are mobbed, i was at one recently for an op, step one was get some blood tests, 100+ people there just for that, step 2 go to nurse station, 200 there, morning temperatures 30+⁰C 80+% humidity, was expecting multiple fatalities with the queuing, no wonder the Drs are complaining

They really need more general/Family doctors in Pattaya and throughout Thailand. Sure there are plenty of Clinics, but you'd think that there would be more general/Family doctors that you could go see instead of going to the hospital for everything. Granted if it's the cold or flu, or something minor I just try to wait it out and can go to a clinic for that, but I'd love to have a Family doctor that know my history to go to and then only go to the emergency room, If it was an emergency. I still try to just make appointments with the doctors at the hospital first, but when it's a true emergency that's where you need to go.

1 hour ago, blaze master said:

Does a blood clot in both lungs constitute an emergency ? Not really any other options for us here in canada.

Depends on whether the clots were already diagnosed and being treated or if the ER doctor let you wait and made the diagnosis at that time. The intake should have indicated what direction to take in chasingdownyourdiagnosis. Did they do any blood tests while you were waiting?

Off topic post about covid removed @GoodieAfterDark the is the news section, discuss the topic, not your agenda

3 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

There is a reorganization needed in the healthcare.. Thai people can go to the hospital even for minor issues or problems. Everything is crowded and overloaded. It would be much better that only severe cases only go the ER to start with. Not a walk-in situation as it is now.

Doctors should have to make a choice. Or their own clinic or being a a doctor in the hospital. Most specialists have their own clinic and in the morning and evening they are busy in that so there are only a few hours they can spend in the hospital.

In fact there should be, as in many countries, a general doctor. The people must go to that clinic and he will solve a lot of issues, such as repeated medications, minor injuries, bloodpressure, diabetic check ups, cold and flu and other "normal " diseases, and specific problems he can sent to the hospital where you need to make an appointment first. Just like in a private hospital. The specialist doctor will have more time for the patient. But the specialist can't have his own clinic anymore. It would take a lot of pressure of all who are working in the hospital. Not hours waiting anymore, long queues and a better working ER room. A general doctor can solve a lot of problems in his clinic too. Just an example. I had a urine retention and went to the private clinic of the specialist urology. He told me to go to the ER room to get a katheter.. Just to should not be needed as he could do that in his own clinic. I had to wait in the ER another 2 hours before they relieved me, in fact he could have solved it much quicker and easier. But as everything in Thailand. the greed and hung for money is gigantic

Thai healthcare needs to educate and employ more physician extenders NPs, PAs, Ultrasound technicians, etc.

Troll post removed. @SiSePuede419 this is the news section, discuss the topic, rather than post an off topic comment, just so you can add an irrelevant meme.

6 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Staff deal daily with cases involving methamphetamine, cannabis and kratom, as well as a large number of psychiatric patients. Accident cases are also high, the doctor said, placing the hospital on a level with any other in terms of workload.

So, less available cannabis and safer traffic could be major point to reduce the overload...🤔

3 hours ago, Brettoj said:

I would class that as an emergency but I’m surprised you had a 9 hour wait in a civilized country.

Canada may be civilized but the healthcare system is broken.

Doesn't matter really which country you are in: many on this thread have offered perfectly practical solutions to the question of people crowding out the ER for minor or trivial ailments, but one reason for this problem may need closer scrutiny.

That is, the sheer lack of education, which, whether you live in Thailand, Canada or UK or wherever, prevents people below a certain intelligence level or above a certain age from seeking ways of self-diagnosing. The more people are taught to use AI to seek solutions to problems, the fewer will be dragging their ass to the hospital for an endless wait for a routine diagnosis.

10 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Staff deal daily with cases involving methamphetamine, cannabis and kratom, as well as a large number of psychiatric patients.

This is indeed a problem and a waste of available rescourses.

One of my wifes sisters is an alcoholic as is her husband. She has cluttered up the emergency room on several occasions and recently spent 6 days in ITU after binge drinking and not eating anything. Sadly , she is not an isolated case.

I look at this as a self inflicted problem.

Having been warned several times by doctors to quit she can only keep it up for a while then when she feels better hits the bottle again.

These people should not be admitted to hospital after 1 visit and one recorded warning. Thereafter they should sent home with any relevant medication and printed instructions on how to care for themselves at home. It is unfair on overworked medical staff to have to repeatedly deal with people unwilling to help themselves when there are more seriously needy patients to deal with.

7 hours ago, RTJackson said:

Depends on whether the clots were already diagnosed and being treated or if the ER doctor let you wait and made the diagnosis at that time. The intake should have indicated what direction to take in chasingdownyourdiagnosis. Did they do any blood tests while you were waiting?

Clots were not already diagnosed. They did blood test and i still waited. Things work quite slow in canada.

12 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

As I see it, the bottleneck isn’t a shortage of staff, it’s actually the design, where the ER is treated as the universal intake point for everything from minor ailments to complex trauma, leaving even heavy staffing unable to keep pace.

Agree. This overcrowding of ERs a symptom of a complete absence of family doctors in the Thai medical system. Call them family doctors, GPs, physicians, whatever, they are the front line in many countries. In the UK they call the walk-in clinics 'surgeries' also by appointment. But the system of family doctors as a front line care giver takes the load off of ER walk-ins. When there is no access to a family doctor, and you can't afford a private hospital visit (like Thailand) this is what happens.