1. Education (remember parents here only have 1 child, and education system here tends to favour those who are richer, not necessarily cleverer)
2. Housing (the home is a symbol of life security, but housing prices are freaking high in SH BJ)
3. Medical (health is definitely a key concern for the chinese, and the medical system in china is, well u'll see....)
After all the horror stories about chinese medical services, I made my maiden voyage to a hospital in Shanghai, thankfully the patient was neither of us. A colleague/intern from singapore contracted food poisoning. I was scrambling the whole of saturday morning to find a suitable clinic for the poor kiddo, the experience was really below minimum standards for the locals.
I called the hospital to enquire doctors and prices, i was a bit confused with the system because u don't see a GP here, u gotta tell the counter your problem and they'll refer u to the right department, whether its neurology or renal or TCM. It was also very difficult to speak in chinese when u're all flustered..The conversation went something like this...(translated into english)
Conversation 1
Huashan Machine: Welcome to Huashan hospital, pls dial extension, or 0 for operator.
Operator: Wei....
Stella: Ni Hao i have a problem my friend has been puking all morning what... (cut off before i finish)
Nurse 1: Wei?
Stella: Ni Hao i have a problem my friend has been puking all morning what can u do to help me?
Nurse 1: What are her symptoms?
Stella: Puking for the last 1 hour
Nurse 1: She should see a neurologist
Stella: Huh? Why?
Nurse 1: Yeah that's what u see, a neurologist.
Stella (blur already): Okay, can i go to the emergency instead its serious
Nurse 1: Well, ur friend's symptoms not considered emergency
Stella: But she's been puking for the last hour...
Nurse 1: Well, she should see a neurologist.
Stella (blur and pissed): Okay, i am a foreigner, who can i see? How much?
Nurse 1 slams down the phone.
Stella picks up the phone again
Conversation 2
Huashan Machine: Welcome to Huashan hospital, pls dial extension, or 0 for operator.
Operator: Wei....
Stella: hey i called earlier i want to speak to that nurse u put me thr... (cut off before i finish)
Nurse 2: Wei...
Stella: hey i called earlier i want to speak to that nurse i was talking to, she was so rude to me. I WANT TO TELL HER THAT SHE HAS TO BE RESPONSIBLE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO MY FRIEND. (OBVIOUSLY SCREAMING COS I WAS FREAKING MAD)
Nurse 2: What happened to ur friend can i help you?
Stella (obviously realising that my screaming was futile): She's been puking for the last hour.
Nurse 2: Okay bring her to internal medicine.
Stella: If i'm a foreigner, where do i go?
Nurse 2: 8th floor. but its 500RMB.
The local rate: RMB 15.60
The foreign rate: RMB 500
But get this, the doctors are all chinese. U just get prettier nurses, carpeted floor, and cushioned seat in foreign services, oh and u don't need to wait for 100 people before you. money talks.
Anyway here are the pictures of Huashan hospital... obviously i didn't take much cos i was more worried about the kiddo.
Dunno why but it reminds me of SIR, singapore immigration registration. This is the local services btw.
Outside the hospital, people le-longing fruits...
So crowded...It's like a hospital right smack in the middle of a busy street.
Anyway, point of blog is, before u come to china, there are several things u need to do in order to avoid the hospital situation...
1) Take the flu jab. Take one at the end of the year because that's the one that is usually gives u resistance to the nothern hemisphere flu. The one mid year gives u resistance to southern hemisphere flu.
2) Stock up on OTC medication, anything. Cough syrup, panadol, anti-oxidants, inflammation medication, anti-histamines, flu tablets, charcoal pills, gastric medication...
3) Bring more clothes, its better to be warm than to be freezing!
1 comment:
US medical care isn't kind to foreigners too... in other words, what we take for granted as accessible medical care in Sg, simply isn't to be in other countries.
when i was in hangzhou, the only person who could save me from my bad flu was this indonesian couple, who have on them antibiotics from indo, the kind that our moms like to buy off the counter.
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