Health Care

Only four countries in the world offer the best medical service and latest equipments. There are America, India, China and South Korea.

Of the four, South Korea stands out prominently in terms of service, fee and advancement of equipments like Robotic Surgery.

Last year there was an increase of 284% of foreigners seeking medical care. The South Korean Government had predicted the urgency and need of such care in advance and had since created a Korean Medical Tourism Board. The board act like a directory of Hospitals giving out information of the specialities of each hospitals and their doctors, the fee charged, services like stay-in accommodation for families of foreign patients, coordinators who can speak 5 languages and are experience and master at translating medical terms to the foreign patients and families. All the staffs are friendly and helpful.

Money profited from these hospitals are channel into a pool to subsidize the local patients so that patients who cannot pay are taken care of.

One outstanding service that even America, India and China cannot do is the 24 hours non-stop service. A patients can do 20 tests within 4 (four) hours and get the results on the spot. If surgery is needed, the patient can sign the form and the operation would be done within 24 hours. Also note that all the tests are done by experience doctors.

This my friend is call SERVICE.

I look down on our medical care in Malaysia because hospitals are set up to make money only. If you are poor and sick it would be best to spent whatever you have on a coffin or burial plot. Here you have to pay through your nose to get lousy service.

I have visited many hospitals both government and private. In private, a nurse will check on your condition on arrival, then a doctor will see to you. If nothing serious, you are given a prescription and sent home. But if needed to stay overnight or see a specialist you are require to show your money first. By the time you are send to your bed it would have taken more than two hours. Then you are told specialist do not come in after 5 pm. So you have to wait till 10 am to see him. That overnight stay plus seeing the specialist with extra expenses thrown in will easily come to RM1200. If surgery is needed another sum have to be deposited before a date is fixed. If you know the surgeon the fee can be lowered otherwise be prepare to cough up RM11,000 – RM25,000. There is dirty trend among specialists that had been going on for donkey years that before they go for their Haj, Christmas and New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and even Chinese New Year Holidays they do alot of operations. If there is a serious need why not? But I know of five people who need not be operated on but was advised by the good doctors to do so before those holidays. After the operations, these five were worse off and when they went to other doctors outside this country, they were told it was curable without surgeries.
Then we have the government hospitals. First you register at the reception, then you are given a number. Wait for 15 minutes then you are called in to have your temperature and pressure taken. That done you are told to wait outside. This is where the waiting game begins. One can wait for 4 – 6 hours before you are called again. If an X-ray is need another 2 hours of waiting must be added. When called in you have to be check and question by an intern first, then you wait another 15 – 20 minutes before another intern says you are okay or need to do this or that. Checking in will take another hour or so. So imagine if you are a serious case. By the time you see a real doctor you are already half dead or gone for good.

Looking around the hospital, one could see many staff are chatting, knitting, reading and listening to music and munching. If a proper system is implemented, there is not need for so many staff doing nothing. These staff could be send to Sarawak, Sabah or some Ulu, ulu place where there is no health care.

Then we have the attitude of the nurses, they are rude depending on your skin colour. I have also seen many times nurses scolding and cursing accident patients. Bad enough the accident patients are bleeding, confused, shocked or hurt internally, must the nurses shout or yell at them to walk to the bed, chair or take off their shoes. Can’t the nurses do that. Few times I heard nurses condemning the patient for being stupid ending in accidents.

Now we have IJN, many local patients cannot get in. The hospital caters to patients with titles or connection with BN, foreigners Brunei and Indonesia. Money profited from the hospital are divert into private accounts or UMNO linked companies.

It is high time the people cut off the hands of Yaacob and Merican and demand that the whole hospital business be given a complete overhaul and run by people who are not interested in politic and money only but putting the people health care first.