i have been thrice hospitalized. First two cases was similar to above. First time it was a weird viral decease which made me red like a boiled crab. Second time it was the real thing (or the hospital said so). Both times i spent about a week in the hospital. It was Sri J’pura. It was quite good. I didn’t get a separate room but it was clean, staff was good and the bill was ok (fraction of what you paid above).

Third time it was kalubowila government due to food poisoning. I’ll try to tell my opinion using point form to avoid writing a huge paragraph.

* The doc (lady doctor who was young, pretty and cute) and the nurses (most same as the doc) were quite good and cared about the patients.

* The specialist or the surgeon who was in charge of the ward (again a lady doc, but wasn’t young nor pretty nor nice) was just plain rude(bitchy) at the patients.

* the Minor staff was really careless and like many politically appointed ppl should not be there…

* Hospital was overcrowded and next day (i got discharged by noon) i had to share the bed with a guy who was suspected of suffering from yellow fever (yeah, yellow eyes. very creepy and awkward). He was sitting on a one end of the bed while i was sitting on the other end.

*But generally i don’t think they would let you die due to carelessness.

cvc

I guess I’m biased, but during a serious illness I’d take my family to the government hospital (NHSL). This is what I did when my dad collapsed from hormone deficiency and when the husband got severe pneumonia and more recently, food poisoning. If my kid gets a fever I will take her to Lady Ridgeway. Yes it’s crowded, uncomfortable, and I won’t get a chirpy “Ayubowan” or see flowers at the nurses station, but I have much more confidence in the govt. sector. I’d know that an entire team of doctors and nurses keeping an eye on her, checking blood pressure every 15 minutes, checking her blood every 4 hours and generally knowing their chickens.

When I was working in a medical ward, over a period of 2 weeks, we had nearly a dozen patients transferred from private hospitals when they were practically “terminal”. Most were mismanaged, fluid overloaded and some didn’t even have the basic tests done. Almost all of them died. Most of the smaller private hospitals also don’t have facilities for platelet or plasma transfusion or the staff for intensive monitoring.

My aunt was recently in a very well recognised private hospital with low sodium and the nurse instead of giving her 2 grams of salt, gave her 17 grams… a mistake that would have definitely killed her. I have worked in wards where there have been more floor patients than there were beds, where there were only half the number of nurses that is required for the bed strength and they would never make such an incompetent mistake.

My other problem with private hospitals is that there is no continuity of care. The ward doctors are usually locums and they rarely handover patients properly, and are usually clueless as to what’s going on since they move on after that shift. Their job does not require them to take any decisions or responsibility.

No place is perfect or faultless, and there maybe quite a number of mishaps in the government sector. Doctors and nurses are usually overworked and rarely have time to smile or answer questions (though this does not excuse the lack of civility). Minor staff are mostly political appointees and have a terrible work ethic. The toilets are horrible, the wards may be quite hot, there may be a shortage of certain drugs and tests may need to be done from a private lab if results are needed urgently.

I’d still go there. I’d take my loved ones there.

P.S. Glad the kid is better… that must have been a scary experience!

Ya indi putha private hospitals are shit. Looks nice, smells nice but really that it. If you want proper care you’ve got to go to the govt. hospitals. Go government and get check into a paying ward. You can even request a room with its own attached toilet. The extra cost is marginal, and the care : well as good as it gets.

Ask you Dada, about which hospital to go to and how to get a paying ward. He’ll know.

P.S: Glad the kiddo is better.

I recently had a major problem with the national hospital. My mother got sick and taken to National Hospital. It was about 10 PM at night and they said that they will admit her to the hospital but there will be no doctors until the morning so no checking of whats wrong or any treatment until that time. Not even a pain killer.

We then took her to a private hospital (Asiri) they did all the tests/checks that was needed and and fortunately it turned out to be a minor issue even though she was having a massive pain.

I was under the impression that unlike in the private places there is a doctor present 24/7 in National Hospital to perform at least the basic diagnosis. That’s why I took here there. Turned out its the other way around.

Most patients brought in might not be that much of a critical condition even though it might seem so. But there should be a medical professional to make that judgement instead of having to wait till morning.

I’ve admitted a kid to a government hospital on two occasions when they had a lingering fever, despite having very good medical insurance that pays for every thing. Like Sack said above, the deciding factor is the nurses’ training and the hospital’s preparedness for emergencies.

Our paediatrician was the consultant at the ward and fortunately we managed to get the kid discharged after two days, with strict intructions to return immediately if certain symptoms occured. It turned out not to be dengue.

It wasn’t that bad. I knew people at the hospital but didn’t have to bother them with anything. I would run home during visiting hours for a wash. Had to take the kid to the ward toilets, but wasn’t that bad, probably because it was a childrens’ ward.

I’ve seen the Merchant’s Ward at the national hopital sometime back, and it was pretty good. I think private hospitals do a lot of unnecessary tests and procedures just to inflate the bill and try to keep you in longer, whereas government hospitals want to send you home quickly due to limited resources.

Just a question, as I am clueless about this subject. I can fully understand wanting the best available care for our loved ones. But if people who can afford to go private use government hospitals instead, are we taking up resources that might otherwise benefit the less fortunate?

I think we need more hospitals like Sri J’pura or more paying wards around the country. But before doing that we need to properly staff the government hospitals b’se there are lot of ppl who can’t afford other options.