Hospital Care

[ImageDude]

Monday 6th June, the day started normally here in Chiang Rai. I rose at 6-30am had coffee, carried out my ablutions, then checked e-mails. Around 8am I sat on the bed to prepare to go and shower. And zap !, I was hit by the most horrendous abdominal pain I have ever experienced in my life, this pain was located centrally in the abdomen directly below my sternum. I could not get comfortable or ease the pain no matter which way I turned. I tolerated this for about 1 hour and then decided to go to the hospital to get checked out. I was taken to the emergency treatment room and questioned by several nurses about my condition. I was then told the doctor would be along in 30 minutes.

The doctor duly arrived, carried out a cursory examination asked a few more questions. He then decided he needed to carry out an Endoscopy procedure for further diagnostics, but in meantime he gave me a shot of morphine to try to make me a more comfortable and I was taken to Op. Theatre area and was introduced to a second doctor who asked me pretty much the same questions as before. I was then left for a further 30 minutes, the morphine had not taken any effect and I was still writhing in pain. When the second doctor returned I asked him if he could further reduce the pain as it was excruciating. He immediately yelled “I am not God, I am a doctor you will have to be patient” Wow, great response. I tried to explain that the previous shot of morphine had had no effect whatsoever, he responded by stating it probably wouldn’t, it was what he had anticipated,(confused ?) he further stated that I had taken far too many opiates already and that is why it is having no effect now (further confused ?). I enquired as to what on earth was he talking about as I had come here straight from home and only taken medication that had been administered at the hospital. He then shouted me down saying that he didn’t believe me, It was his view that I was addicted to opiates. I asked him on what premise he based this ludicrous diagnosis. He didn’t answer, he just carried on with his preps for the Endoscopy procedure. After the procedure he disappeared without a word and I was admitted into nursing room.

I was then visited by doctor number three, who was very pleasant, he informed me that the endoscopy hadn’t revealed anything that would cause this pain and further investigation would be required, probably a CT scan. I was given a further shot of morphine. Around 5pm I was carted off to the X-Ray department and a CT-scan was carried out, and I was returned to my room. In due course doctor number two arrived and stated that the CT scan had not produced anything untoward. So I asked him what he intended to do next, his answer shocked and stunned me. In a very angry manner he said that he would transfer me to a hospital in Chiang Mai ! I asked him the reason and by this time he was shouting that I needed to stop arguing with him and making problems. He wanted me to see (his) professor in Chiang Mai because my symptoms were beyond his knowledge, if I refused he would not treat me further. So I refused. My treatment carried on by doctor number three took the form of Tramadol administered intravenously. Over the course of 3 days the pain gradually subsided and I discharged myself from their care or rather lack of it. I wasn’t given any explanation or diagnosis, just an account for 38,000 baht, more than half of which was made up of ‘Special Diagnostic Procedures’.

What do you guys think about this ? I am trying to come to terms with all of this, but at the moment I can’t get through the immense anger that I feel towards this doctor.

[jubby]

I suspect the Guy has been having either personal Issues himself or is a Bigot or is stressed due to overwork. he has clearly labelled you as a drug taking piece of white Trash.

Sorry to hear you having health problems again Imagedude, he may be right about CM though. he clearly has no clue or interest in you.

Hope you can find a bit of humour in my response and try to let the Anger go , very little you/we can do about it. TIT

Edited June 12, 2011 by jubby

[brianmarinus]

Hi!

Sorry to hear that you are not well.

I think I know how you feel-I remember when my friend Carsten was there,and every singel day when we arrived,they have some new issue to tell about-so frustrating-and one doctor say one thing,another some other things.

When we finaly got him to a single room-all care was gone-they came in the morning,took his temperature,blood pressure and so-that was it.

Hell was loose,if he used the bell.

!. time we got him there-3 days and they diddent have a clue about what was wrong whit him-payed 27.000 baht.

After a short time at home,we got him to the puplic hospital-15 min. and they told me-sorry, your friend got loung cancer.

It is not so fancy-and maby not the cleanest hospital in the world, but they do know what they are doing-so nice they where-every time something happend, they phone to us, and told us about it-when he came to Chiang Mai, at Dok-Kaew Gardens and we talked about the payment-they just told Suphaphon-you have been so good about paying every month and so-so now he is dead,we cut of 50 percent,so instead of paying 48.000 baht,we payed 24.000 baht.

My opinion about Owerbrooke,is that it is only a monye machine-nearly every time I have been there-they diddent know what to do-yes, take my monye-so I start using a private clinic-by the way-that doctor who have this clinic saved me a surgery and 60.000 baht-and do I have to go to the hospital,it will be the puplic one-so nice,fast and good threatment-and cheap to.

[harrry]

I think you should go to ChiangMai to SuanDork which is the public hospital f the CMU medical school or to Sripat Special Medical Clinic which is the private one.

Care in both of these is excellent though being private Sripat is of course faster.

[chang35baht]

Which hospital ID?

[kandahar]

I won't say that it is anyone's specific job to do this but I think when we run into bad behavior at that hospital, follow-up is a good idea. Maybe collectively we can cause some changes and prevent others from having a like experience. If a person has such an experience as you have had, an e-mail to the board or director may be in order. And in that e-mail can be a link to a thread such as this, with annotations made in the e-mail that you are spreading the word about the bad treatment. Perhaps things will change if the people who can make the changes see poor behavior from staff is going to cost them money in declining numbers of customers. They know that you alone can't sink their bottom line. But if they are aware of consistent efforts to steer customers away from them because of behavioral issues, maybe they will make efforts to improve things.

No person should have to be subjected to what you went through. A missed diagnosis or a bad diagnosis is one thing; mistakes are mistakes. Outright hateful or offensive behavior is another and I think it should be addressed.

Now, maybe that is a can of worms better left alone. For me personally, I think it should be brought to the attention of the decision makers at that facility. It is very possible that they do not know what is happening. I would doubt the fellow's own colleagues would complain or rat him out. Medical folks tend to stick together for obvious reasons. The thing is, if there is an ass in the place behaving like that and the director or board doesn't know about it, then he/she/they won't be doing anything about. Ever.

Regardless of what else the place claims to be, it is first and foremost a business. The bottom line is the only thing we can affect that will alter their service or behavior. There does not have to be a threat against them, only a notice that this happened and we are telling anyone and everyone who will listen that it did happen.

Edited June 13, 2011 by kandahar

[stevehoward1969]

I would like to give support to Harrys advice. Several weeks ago after enduring hefty bills at both Overbrook and Sriburin without a solution to the problem I met Harry and his wife for a coffee and he told me to give Suan Dok (Maharaj) a try in CM.

My wife has just spent 2 weeks in there and the treatment/ diagnosis in there was excellent. Sadly she needs a bone marrow translpant which they are also helping to organise in BKK.

I would not hesitate to recommend this hospital to anybody who needs treatment.

Billing by the way for 2 weeks was 3k for meds to take home.

Many thanks. Harry for the sound advice.

[harrry]

I would like to give support to Harrys advice. Several weeks ago after enduring hefty bills at both Overbrook and Sriburin without a solution to the problem I met Harry and his wife for a coffee and he told me to give Suan Dok (Maharaj) a try in CM.

My wife has just spent 2 weeks in there and the treatment/ diagnosis in there was excellent. Sadly she needs a bone marrow translpant which they are also helping to organise in BKK.

I would not hesitate to recommend this hospital to anybody who needs treatment.

Billing by the way for 2 weeks was 3k for meds to take home.

Many thanks. Harry for the sound advice.

Glad you at least know where you are now and can plan what to do.

The really low cost was because she was refered from the hospital she has a gold card. If you had gone direct or if it was for a farang it would have cost about 200 baht a day for treatment food and accomodation plus the cost of tests and medicine at reasonable rates.

[dindong]

Hi I don't know which hospital the O.P was referring to but I can confirm that Sriburin hospital pad their bills with a Special Diagnostic Procedures’ item.

I asked for an explanation of this and they could not answer it. I wanted to refuse to pay it but my wife did not want to make a scene in the hospital as she said they would have called the police.I paid the bill and made an official complaint but never heard anything more about it.

There is no doubt in my mind that Sriburin are cheating foreigners but my hospital insurance is with them and I have no choice but to go there.

[ImageDude]

Thanks to you all for the sound advice on the medical aspect of this problem. Thanks to KD also, I haven't yet deciced how to approach the problem with the doctor's attitude and bad manners, but it will be addressed.

Once again many thanks to all. For your future reference this incident occurred at Overbrook.

ImageDude

[dindong]

Overbrook Hospital Motto: We don't care.

www.obh-hospital.com

[LJW]

I suspect that both of you see a different situation, perhaps you were being a pain in the ass to him, so after some frustration with you, he gave you a typical response. I am sure both of you feel you now need a 'vacation' from each other

[cmjantje]

I suspect that both of you see a different situation, perhaps you were being a pain in the ass to him, so after some frustration with you, he gave you a typical response. I am sure both of you feel you now need a 'vacation' from each other

Can you please tell the audience who you have in mind? Or am I missing something?

[konjianghai]

File a report, dont let this doctor get away with this. They are giving a care service they should treat you with respect and understanding. I always hate this kind of people, specially government officials. Nowadays their services are better (manner) since they can get fired when a client report the supervisor.

[lannaman]

Overbrook Hospital Motto: We don't care.

www.obh-hospital.com

This is a very unfair comment and I totally disagree.

I have had two minor ops at the Overbrook, as well as several other outpatient visits and a serious bleed from my stomach when their quick action may well have saved my life.

I have always found the staff there very kind and caring.

Never get heated and smile in all adverse circumstances and you will get smiles and care in return.

[skybluestu]

Overbrook Hospital Motto: We don't care.

www.obh-hospital.com

This is a very unfair comment and I totally disagree.

I have had two minor ops at the Overbrook, as well as several other outpatient visits and a serious bleed from my stomach when their quick action may well have saved my life.

I have always found the staff there very kind and caring.

Never get heated and smile in all adverse circumstances and you will get smiles and care in return.

I agree, my daughter was born at Overbrook last year after a last minute change from SriBurin due to the Dr there being more concerned with what was convenient to him rather than the well-being of mother & baby. Once at Overbrook everything felt much better and all the nurses & doctors were great. We've continued to go there for our daughter's vaccines where she just had another one today and, as usual, everything went smoothly with very friendly, caring staff.

I doubt the OP can realistically do anything although a letter to the BKK Post or Nation might get printed and therefore result in an apology, he should have a word with brahmburgers as he must have a contact seeing as how regularly his letters get printed.

[villagefarang]

Living in Thailand as many of us do and even with a limited understanding of Thais, try to picture this. Lannaman and Imagedude are stood in front of a cross-section of Thai professionals. Which of these two upstanding individuals would you expect to receive better treatment?

Not saying it is right or fair but this is after all Thailand, the land of image is everything and form over substance, etc.

Imagedude, let me wish you a speedy recovery from your most recent medical problems and hope that you can get past your “immense anger” toward that doctor, as it is not healthy for you to be consumed with anger. One doubts there is much to be done that could change his outlook or attitude anyway.

Edited June 16, 2011 by villagefarang

[jubby]

Living in Thailand as many of us do and even with a limited understanding of Thais, try to picture this. Lannaman and Imagedude are stood in front of a cross-section of Thai professionals. Which of these two upstanding individuals would you expect to receive better treatment?

Not saying it is right or fair but this is after all Thailand, the land of image is everything and form over substance, etc.

Imagedude, let me wish you a speedy recovery from your most recent medical problems and hope that you can get past your “immense anger” toward that doctor, as it is not healthy for you to be consumed with anger. One doubts there is much to be done that could change his outlook or attitude anyway.

I'm just surprised its Overbrook; I assumed it would have been an overworked doctor from the general.

You may have a point VF, but there's nothing to say Imagedude hadn't just had a S*&^; Shave and a Haircut. and fallen into his best suit with matching dickie bow. I would suspect that either of them would look like something the cat dragged in writhing in immense pain. Its interesting to have Konji's input as a Thai. I always thought most thai's wouldn't ask too many questions of the doctor, rightly, or wrongly.

I Just hope this doctor was having a bad day, . I guess we all have a bad day from time to time.

Imagedude has spent a considerably amount of time in Hospitals here and I'm sure he's been satisfied with the level of care and professionalism until now. hopefully just a one of.

[LJW]

I suspect that both of you see a different situation, perhaps you were being a pain in the ass to him, so after some frustration with you, he gave you a typical response. I am sure both of you feel you now need a 'vacation' from each other

Can you please tell the audience who you have in mind? Or am I missing something?

You seem to be missing the CLUE...

I know neither of the folks, and I was not there, so I simply offered my opinion on what might have happened and why

[Garry]

Overbrook Hospital Motto: We don't care.

www.obh-hospital.com

This is a very unfair comment and I totally disagree.

I have had two minor ops at the Overbrook, as well as several other outpatient visits and a serious bleed from my stomach when their quick action may well have saved my life.

I have always found the staff there very kind and caring.

Never get heated and smile in all adverse circumstances and you will get smiles and care in return.

I agree, my daughter was born at Overbrook last year after a last minute change from SriBurin due to the Dr there being more concerned with what was convenient to him rather than the well-being of mother & baby. Once at Overbrook everything felt much better and all the nurses & doctors were great. We've continued to go there for our daughter's vaccines where she just had another one today and, as usual, everything went smoothly with very friendly, caring staff.

I doubt the OP can realistically do anything although a letter to the BKK Post or Nation might get printed and therefore result in an apology, he should have a word with brahmburgers as he must have a contact seeing as how regularly his letters get printed.

I have a similar opinion and view of OBH,

Apart from one medical checkup I had at OBH that didn't fit the bill, I have had no problems with them. Both my daughters were born there, my FIL had his appendix out there and the care for my MIL after her stroke has been excellent. After over a year, she is back on the path to almost complete recovery, all cared for by OBH and their staff. My FIL & MIL also use the government hospital as needed by them.