Private Hospitals - not great

[Tony125]

6 hours ago, Will B Good said:

How odd....never, ever taken vitamin C (other than in foods) and never had kidney stones.......must have been lucky.

Kidney  stones can also be caused by not drinking eneough water ( to flush them) or too much intake of calcium. If you have drunk enough water and don't over do it on calcium suppliments or foods  then you should be good to go,

 

[Tropposurfer]

My experience has ben quite different to yours in LOS well ... (so far lol????), and ai can't speak highly enough of both simple consults and operations I have had here.

Consulted at BNH, Bangkok, B'Grad, and Dibuk. 

I have a good Dr friend from B'grad and Dibuk Hosp's (we play golf together regularly). Both being London trained after basic medical school here with both speaking and comprehending excellent english.

We speak as peers and being very western they doesn't suffer from 'face' issues when talking privately, and so are quite candid with me.

Both have told me a lot of Drs don't engage much with falang's as their english while seemingly decent can lack and to be safe and not create or invite issues they often keep their communications to a minimum. 

There's also the issues of doctors not giving a rats above minimum care standards and edicts from the hospitals they work in too, as well as the 'god-syndrome' (above mere mortals), and the age-old one of being tired, hungry, lonely, angry, or sad which sometimes gets in the way of attendance fully with patients.

As to being given dangerous or powerful effect drugs this doesn't seem to be limited to LOS, from my experience anyway. I grant you in LOS prescribing and over the counter ease of med procurement is certainly 'different' to my home nations procedures laws and practices. 

I once saw in a pharmacy in the Silom Centre them selling all manner of anti-psychotics and anti-depressant med's without so much as a 'who are you' from the staff lol !! Great for pill shopping aficionado's lol ????!!

I always enquire about med's offered or advised. Drs so far seem to be quite happy to inform when I ask. I tend to ask by way of wanting to learn about how the med's function as well as to discern whats safe to put into my body, it always brings an interesting conversation.

[vandeventer]

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

I have been seeing a dermatologist at a government hospital for some time. I see her the same day as the other doctor so there is no consultation fee,  it is 100 baht irrespective of the number of doctors you see on that visit.

These days it is only a visual inspection but she still  spends about 10 minutes discussing the condition and checking up if further medication is required.

What you may have been prescribed is a steroidal antibiotic cream which can only be used for short periods of time.  I was prescribed that initially and she went to great lengths to explain why it could only be used for up to 4 weeks and I shouldn't try and obtain any extra on my own.

I had a similar explanation at another government hospital over the steroidal eye drops I had been prescribed.

I use to travel 3 hours on the bus each way to get my medication and then when I got it, it was too late to come back the same day so 1 night in a hotel as well. But when I did some sweet taking to some chemist in my area they where willing to help, pay a little more but very handy.

[pomozki]

I've had many good experiences in private hospitals here but 2 shocking ones:

1) I had a spinal "episode" in 2014 - Bumrungrad told me the MRI showed that the treatment they had given me wasn't working, I had probable spinal cancer and recommended I have exploratory surgery with a quote of about 550,000 baht, including 2 nights in ICU ward, 5 more in genera ward and some dangers associated with the spinal surgery. I said I wanted a 2nd opinion and to her credit the neurologist was happy to recommend someone - turned out she had misread the MRI result, the treatment was indeed working and no surgery was in fact required. Very, very close to spending a fortune on a risky procedure
2) about 3 years ago i had an ear infection and loss of hearing in one ear. The specialist in the ENT dept at Thainakharin Hospital, Bang Na told me the tests they'd carried out showed the damage to the ear was permanent and all I could do was hope for the best. I got a 2nd opinion from one of his colleagues at the same hospital 2 weeks later - turned out the 1st guy got it completely wrong and I only just started treatment in time that saved the hearing. If I hadn't returned for a 2nd opinion and treated the infection correctly  I would indeed have lost the hearing.
Moral of story? Always get a 2nd opinion. Even medical specialists habitually make dreadful mistakes here

[vandeventer]

4 hours ago, crazykopite said:

I dont use private hospital I go to my local Chinese pharmacy she is excellent and always knows what to give me I pulled a muscle in my back last month she gave me a red strip of 10 small tablets 35 baht   

48 hours later I was feeling fantastic all told I took 5 of the tablets and have kept 5 as an emergency once she told me to go to the government hospital which I did and once I knew the problem I went back to her for the medication as even the government hospital medication is expensive 

I have had back trouble for years and I take rutin for it. It really helps with the pain and arthritis.

[sandyf]

5 hours ago, newnative said:

     Been here 11 years and I can say I've not had a bad experience in any hospital here.  Unlike the OP's experience, the doctors I have seen have all given me plenty of time during an appointment.  Medical care here, for me, is lightyear's better than in the US.  I still marvel how it is so easy to get an appointment with little or no waiting--just getting an appointment was often a struggle in the US.

     Recently in the late evening I broke a tooth with a filling while flossing.  Called the hospital at 8am the next morning and they could see me at 10:30.  Did the exam, we decided a crown was the best choice, temporary crown was done, and out in about an hour.  Went back about 5 days later for the permanent crown, which is working well and has a 1 year warranty.   Whether I've had medical tests, medical procedures, lasik eye surgery, treatments, dental work, or whatever, I've been happy with the results and the cost.

Dental work  is particularly easy.  My wife broke a tooth one Sunday lunchtime, just went out to a local clinic, walked in and had it done straight away.

My hospital has a dental dept and quite good but appointments are in person only and before 8.30. I am going in the morning, the hospital is better for me as I am on apixabahn and my records are there.