Rutnin Eye Hospital - Bangkok

[ThaiBob]

I have been a patient at Rutnin for 3-4 years now even though I live in Pattaya. I go because of it's reputation as being one of the best and I am satisfied with my retinologist. Today I was scheduled for visits with two specialist with tests. First went smoothly but the second was very trying. I had my eyes dilated 20 minutes prior to my appointment but was kept waiting (and waiting) until I asked when will I see the doctor. Six more patients before me was the reply. With that I had a meltdown, cancelled my appointment, paid the bill and explained this is not a government hospital and not the way a private hospital should treat patients. Long waits well beyond scheduled times has become very common at this hospital. If you simply need routine eye care I recommend going elsewhere, that's what I will do now. Of course, if you require special needs or have an emergency then Rutnin is still the best. 

[lopburi3]

Not sure anything abnormal - in my experience queue for doctor visit is strictly dependent on actual check-in for doctor or test at Rutnin so expect you had two such waits.  Although I have had to wait it has never been too long and there never appeared to be any queue jumping.  Do understand six sounds a lot but depending on what being checked might not be that much time.

 

But then I have also experienced public hospital queues a few times so perhaps not expecting immediate service even if paying.  

[Sheryl]

They go by first come, first serve, not by appointment time - appointments are used solely to limit the numbers arriving on a given day.

 

There are some other private hospitals here that work the same way e.g. St Louis and Bangkok Christian

[dddave]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

They go by first come, first serve, not by appointment time -

That is a very useful bit of knowledge I'll keep in mind my next appointment at Rutnin, though in truth, I've never had a long wait there.

[ThaiBob]

I typically go to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya and they keep to their appointment schedule, occasionally I do wait 10-20 minutes if the doctor gets a little behind. For the apologists here, what's the point of having appointments if it is first come first served. Not even an HMO in America operates like that or Bumrungrad or Pattaya International for that matter. And some are forgetting I registered for both appointments early in the morning, completed the first, then had my eyes dilated, sat there for over 30 minutes, then made an inquiry 30 minutes later as to why the delay, and finally told there were six patients in front of me and the wait could be two or three hours. I personally believe some nurse got the folders out of order.  What some here are describing is the system perhaps Queen Sirikit or other government hospital use. I say screw Rutnin if that is in fact their system, and I will look in to having my medical history transferred to another hospital. Excuse the rant. 

[Lumbini]

Thanks Thanks Sheryl [emoji120]


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[Barack]

19 hours ago, Sheryl said:

They go by first come, first serve, not by appointment time - appointments are used solely to limit the numbers arriving on a given day.

 

There are some other private hospitals here that work the same way e.g. St Louis and Bangkok Christian

I would be very surprised if that is their policy, they have a state of the art computer system so putting patients in the proper order should not be a issue. My one visit was pleasant although I would have come unglued if I had been treated so poorly. I will heed this warning.

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, Barack said:

I would be very surprised if that is their policy, they have a state of the art computer system so putting patients in the proper order should not be a issue. My one visit was pleasant although I would have come unglued if I had been treated so poorly. I will heed this warning.

The eye department at Vejthani seems to work in this manner - first come first served - but as few walk-in will normally be very close to schedule time.  The dermatology department also seems to work in this fashion in my years of experience and very often much later than appointment time (although this also due to unscheduled operations).  In Bangkok Hospital was directly told by dermatology that appointment does not mean anything and can come any time as they see in order.

 

Why should those who arrive on time or early be forced to wait for those late for appointments just because there scheduled appointment time was before ours?  Thailand is not known for punctuality.  

[Maestro]

On 30/01/2018 at 4:25 PM, ThaiBob said:

...I had my eyes dilated 20 minutes prior to my appointment but was kept waiting (and waiting) until I asked when will I see the doctor. Six more patients before me was the reply...

 

It is my understanding that following the application of drops to dilate the pupils, the examination should start after a specific time, when the pupils are dilated, and not be delayed too long, as the medication's effect, ie the dilatation, will wear off gradually.

[ThaiBob]

14 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

It is my understanding that following the application of drops to dilate the pupils, the examination should start after a specific time, when the pupils are dilated, and not be delayed too long, as the medication's effect, ie the dilatation, will wear off gradually.

That's my understanding too and one reason why I complained.

[Sheryl]

It lasts for several hours. And takes some time to take full effect. So yes, there is a time limit but it is not short.

 

There is no question but that Rutnin is not very efficient with scheduling. Sometimes one is seen instantly (my experience just 2 weeks ago when I brought my sister there) and sometimes the wait is several hours, and no way to predict in advance.

 

If being seen on schedule  is a priority one is better off going to Samitivej, Bumrungrad, Bangkok Hospital or BNH, all of which are quite efficient and most of whom have some good opthamologists (in some cases some ones as at Rutnin). Will cost significantly more, however.