PUBLIC Health Minister Chonlanan Srikaew ordered an investigation of a private hospital in Pattanakarn area that allegedly refused to treated a badly injured Taiwanese tourist leading to rescuers taking him to a state hospital much further away and him dying on way, TV Channel 7 said this evening (Dec. 12).

 

The unidentified Taiwanese tourist lost consciousness after being hit by a car. The rescue team gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and rushed him to the private hospital which was just 500 metres away.

 

However it was reported that this private hospital refused to admit the tourist leading to the rescue team then taking him to a state hospital which is 10 kilometres away and the patient dying before getting there.

 

Chonlanan said as soon as he received this report he ordered the Department of Health Service Support and National Institute for Emergency Medicine to urgently send officials to find out the facts.

 

by TNR Staff

Rescuers helping the Taiwanese tourist and an entrance to the emergency room. Photos: Matichon

 

Full story: THAI NEWSROOM 2023-12-13

 

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Wow, this could happen to any one of us any day.....makes you think.

 

Quote from the linked article :

 

Quote

They were told that this private hospital’s emergency medical staff refused to provide treatment to the patient because he was not accompanied by relatives and therefore medical expenses might not be covered. The patient was then sent to the state hospital but died on the way.

 

I do carry my BUPA Global card in my wallet all the time when I'm out and about - I guess if I'm unconscious and alone that would be my only hope - they are a big and well known insurance company and this cover is among the best they offer.

Edited December 12, 20232 yr by ukrules

50 minutes ago, ukrules said:

:

I do carry my BUPA Global card in my wallet all the time when I'm out and about - I guess if I'm unconscious and alone that would be my only hope - they are a big and well known insurance company and this cover is among the best they offer.

The meat wagon guys be like "what wallet" !

17 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

The meat wagon guys be like "what wallet" !

Yeah, blame them instead of focusing on the wrong doing of the hospital.

20 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

The meat wagon guys be like "what wallet" !

 

Not if they make any kind of commission on my hospital stay - do they?

 

I believe it's kind of standard to supply membership cards with proper reasonably high end health insurance and you carry it with you in case of emergency.

 

If the hospital get hold of my card they can make a phone call, read out the member number and get authorisation to do whatever is necessary including medevac to other hospitals or countries if relevant treatment is not available locally and the yearly limit is like 65 million Baht of coverage - this buys you a lot of treatment out here.

 

But if they don't get to see this card then I guess I'm out of luck.

 

I wonder if they do this all the time but this incident only came to light because the seriously injured patient died en route to the second hospital and happened to be a foreigner.

 

I'm glad they are investigating this and I hope they throw the book at the hospital involved and ensure it never happens again. I think we all know that's a joke though.

 

 

 

I was told by a nurse I knew from a well known hospital in Bangkok.  She said private hospitals are required to accept serious emergency cases.  Such as the type of emergency in this story.  If the patient has insurance or not.  
Near where I lived in Bangkok.  I passed by the scene of an accident.  It appeared a motorbike driver had an accident with a car.  The motorbike driver was laying on the ground injured.  An ambulance responded from the closest hospital which was a newly opened private hospital. 

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

 

Not if they make any kind of commission on my hospital stay - do they?

 

I believe it's kind of standard to supply membership cards with proper reasonably high end health insurance and you carry it with you in case of emergency.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I carry my social security and private health cards.

 

Amusing my sarcastic post went not only your head but also gottfried.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The unidentified Taiwanese tourist lost consciousness after being hit by a car. The rescue team gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and rushed him to the private hospital which was just 500 metres away.

 

However it was reported that this private hospital refused to admit the tourist leading to the rescue team then taking him to a state hospital which is 10 kilometres away and the patient dying before getting there.

This will look great on the world-wide-web.

Go Thailand.

16 hours ago, webfact said:

it was reported that this private hospital refused to admit the tourist .... this private hospital’s emergency medical staff refused to provide treatment to the patient because he was not accompanied by relatives and therefore medical expenses might not be covered.

 

 

Incredible . they have no right to refuse a dying patient .

It was an emergency , but their greed for money and their fear that nobody would pay for his treatment led to the death of the foreign man .

Sue them for manslaughter .

This story should get more publicity worldwide , even it might tarnish the reputation of the " medical hub " Thailand wants to be .

 

Thailand is doing it's best to lose any attraction to the foreign tourists ( money ) that they want so badly .

Chinese people who read this will not come .

Another shot in it's own foot .

Bravo Thailand , continue like this ... destroy tourism ... Thais do not like foreigners anyway , most don't speak Thai , and most Thais never learned to speak or understand another language

11 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

This will look great on the world-wide-web.

Go Thailand.

In other news, TAT to concentrate on domestic tourism as numbers of foreign visitors decline...

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

 

I do carry my BUPA Global card in my wallet all the time when I'm out and about - I guess if I'm unconscious and alone that would be my only hope - they are a big and well known insurance company and this cover is among the best they offer.

Not in Thailand - they are finished (sold out)

47 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

I was told by a nurse I knew from a well known hospital in Bangkok.  She said private hospitals are required to accept serious emergency cases.  Such as the type of emergency in this story.  If the patient has insurance or not.  
Near where I lived in Bangkok.  I passed by the scene of an accident.  It appeared a motorbike driver had an accident with a car.  The motorbike driver was laying on the ground injured.  An ambulance responded from the closest hospital which was a newly opened private hospital. 

 

A few weeks ago I was driving past a large private hospital in Hua Hin; on the opposite side of the road to the hospital there had been an accident between a car and a motorcycle; two injured people were on the road; a rescue foundation ambulance and the police were present; here was no ambulance from the private hospital, nor could I see any medical staff from private hospital; I guess the 30-40 metre walk from the private hospital ER to the scene of the accident was too much, even on a nice sunny day.

49 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

I was told by a nurse I knew from a well known hospital in Bangkok.  She said private hospitals are required to accept serious emergency cases.  Such as the type of emergency in this story.  If the patient has insurance or not.  
Near where I lived in Bangkok.  I passed by the scene of an accident.  It appeared a motorbike driver had an accident with a car.  The motorbike driver was laying on the ground injured.  An ambulance responded from the closest hospital which was a newly opened private hospital. 

 

In case of road accidents, the hospital can claim it against the compulsory insurance, up to 30,000 baht, maybe the other party did a runner hence the uncertainty on whose insurance should pay in this case 

3 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Not in Thailand - they are finished (sold out)

 

BUPA Global is the international arm of the UK company which remains a part of the insurance empire which is BUPA and it's very much still going.

4 minutes ago, JimHuaHin said:

 

A few weeks ago I was driving past a large private hospital in Hua Hin; on the opposite side of the road to the hospital there had been an accident between a car and a motorcycle; two injured people were on the road; a rescue foundation ambulance and the police were present; here was no ambulance from the private hospital, nor could I see any medical staff from private hospital; I guess the 30-40 metre walk from the private hospital ER to the scene of the accident was too much, even on a nice sunny day.

 

and cut the body snatcher out of their commission? if the rescue foundations bring the patient to the hospital, even just across the road they got paid 

 

and how would a private hospital knows to response unless somebody called them directly, if I called 1669 and they sent a Bangkok Hospital ambulance due to them being the nearest I'd rather die than pay the resulting bill 

10 minutes ago, ukrules said:

 

BUPA Global is the international arm of the UK company which remains a part of the insurance empire which is BUPA and it's very much still going.

Not in Thailand - it sold out to Allianz(?) so no more BUPA

6 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Not in Thailand - it sold out to Allianz(?) so no more BUPA

 

My account is with the UK company and they sell it direct all around the world.

 

This is the premium option and nothing like the previous offerings in Thailand https://www.bupaglobal.com/en/

Oh dear read my posts - I'm not saying BUPA international is not a good company - all I said was the BUPA name/company is finished here in Thailand

1 hour ago, swm59nj said:

I was told by a nurse I knew from a well known hospital in Bangkok.  She said private hospitals are required to accept serious emergency cases.  Such as the type of emergency in this story.  If the patient has insurance or not

Yes you are right and the unfortunate part of this is that any rules made here are normally not followed up with actions, or even  reported, so these scum hospitals do what they want. Kind of like a corrupt organization and there are so many of them here.

2 hours ago, swm59nj said:

I was told by a nurse I knew from a well known hospital in Bangkok.  She said private hospitals are required to accept serious emergency cases.  Such as the type of emergency in this story.  If the patient has insurance or not.  

 

A hospital is obliged to treat such people, and if they refuse to do so then that hospital/business is not fit for purpose and should be closed down.

It is not the first time I have wondered in Thailand if they have ever heard of Socrates' oath.
And then especially the private hospitals where big money comes first and medical care comes second.

Even with recent cases in my area, I get more and more the impression that at government hospitals, knowledge often leaves much to be desired and if it becomes too difficult....yet patient died.

2 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

 

A few weeks ago I was driving past a large private hospital in Hua Hin; on the opposite side of the road to the hospital there had been an accident between a car and a motorcycle; two injured people were on the road; a rescue foundation ambulance and the police were present; here was no ambulance from the private hospital, nor could I see any medical staff from private hospital; I guess the 30-40 metre walk from the private hospital ER to the scene of the accident was too much, even on a nice sunny day.

Yes Jim, that's reality and I know the hospital very well, can still remember when a small abscess on my back had to be removed, I had to negotiate the price of the operation due to the fact they were asking an absurdly high price, the doctor sat there and the nurse did the negotiating.

Also on Phuket the same hospital managed to multiply their prices after the tsunami.

Nearly all private hospitals will refuse treatment for something serious, without proof of payment first. Perhaps this needs to be investigated overall. Seems like a cruel policy. Allow them to make a fortune without taking any risks.

2 hours ago, JoePai said:

Not in Thailand - it sold out to Allianz(?) so no more BUPA

You are confusing BUPA Thailand (which sold out to Aetna Thailand) with BUPA Global.

 

BUPA Global is very much still in business.

Private hospitals $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

11 hours ago, swm59nj said:

I was told by a nurse I knew from a well known hospital in Bangkok.  She said private hospitals are required to accept serious emergency cases.  Such as the type of emergency in this story.  If the patient has insurance or not.  
Near where I lived in Bangkok.  I passed by the scene of an accident.  It appeared a motorbike driver had an accident with a car.  The motorbike driver was laying on the ground injured.  An ambulance responded from the closest hospital which was a newly opened private hospital. 

She is correct. This blew up several years ago and at the time private hospitals were instructed that they must accept all emergency cases and provide life-saving treatment. It will be interesting to see what Thai lies are told to cover this situation. The hospital should end up sued, but it will probably be just another Thai grovelling and flower ceremony.

13 hours ago, ukrules said:

I do carry my BUPA Global card in my wallet all the time when I'm out and about - I guess if I'm unconscious and alone that would be my only hope - they are a big and well known insurance company and this cover is among the best they offer.

 

You should wear it attached to your chest, like an army tag

Hand slaps all around and into the memory hole.

Some flaming posts contravening our Community Standards have been removed.