Hi all,

 

I hope I'm off base here, but if I were to pay for someone's heart treatment in the Phitsanulok area what doctors are recommended and at which hospitals?  The Phitsanulok Bangkok Hospital might be too rich for my blood. I'm pretty short on details/possible diagnosis but I need a heads up if I am needed.

 

Cheers

 

 

Oh yeah,

 

If it makes a difference, the potential patient is a Thai national from a farming family.

 

-30-

If the patient is a Thai national, they can get this done for free at a government hospital. No reason on earth for you to pay.

 

They need to go to the government hospital where they are registered, and that hospital will if necessary provide a letter of referral for treatment at a higher level facility.

Thanks for the clarity. Cheers

Hi New Guy, you may wish to read this excellent post that Sheryl wrote explaining how the Thai health care system works for Thai people:  

Your Thai family may be asking you to pay for their loved one to go to a private heart hospital because they don't want to deal with the delays and hassles of taking their sick loved one to first their local hospital where s/he is registered, then getting a referral to a higher level hospital and then finally getting a referral to an appropriate hospital for whatever surgery is needed.  And, frankly there may be an aspect of "rationing" here like there is in many countries.  Perhaps the loved one would benefit from heart bypass surgery, but is elderly so rather than the gov't paying for this surgery, they decide to merely treat the symptoms with medications instead of doing the surgery that would make the patient feel like a new person.

 

Perhaps Sheryl could comment if this is the case here -- if treatment is "rationed" under the 30 baht scheme for the elderly and infirm.  Certainly as someone who deals with gov't hospitals in Chiang Mai on a weekly basis, I know that even the simplest of out-patient appointments usually involves a 1/2 day wait, more often most of the day.  But, a charge of a few hundred baht or less, plus a gift bag full of meds compensates, I suppose.  

 

Thanks NancyL.  You know, 12 years ago I knew this stuff, but I had forgotten it.

 

Cheers

No "rationing" that I have ever seen. The system can be slow and involve a lot of red tape but it usually works quite well. And if problems are encountered a call to the NHSO hotline usually works.

 

Should note that while care is free, people are on their own in getting to and from. If they had to be referred to another, higher level facility far from whete they live this can be costly.