It is inevitable that as a result of big disparity between charges at government hospitals and private medical centres, that the continually increasing number of patients in GH is causing long queues and waiting time.
Last Thursday was a record for me: left house in BG at 7.15 am and reaching home at 4.30 pm. It takes half an hour to reach Ipoh and the first task was to provide blood sample at Unit Pengambilan Darah. Had to tell the nurse at the counter that I should be given a number beginning with 2 because I needed to take the sample myself to the laboratory and to wait for the result before seeing the doctor. But the computer system was down on that day. It didn't affect me initially as I managed to provide the sample at 8.20 am and was told it would take an hour. Handed in my appointment card at SOPD counter at 8.30 am and was given number 4014, which meant there were 13 patients ahead of me. The queue system for this particular room started only at 9.15 am. By the time I got to see the surgeon, it was already 12.30 pm! Leaving out the time between 8.30 and 9.15, it still took 3 and a quarter hours of waiting time. But to be fair, it took an average of only 15 minutes of consultation per patient. There are 9 rooms, each with at least 2 doctors on duty. But the sheer number of patients makes waiting a necessity. The surgeon told me that she normally skip lunch on busy Thursdays. It is admirable and commendable for her dedication to her profession.
As a result of the system down, the assisting doctor could not access my latest blood test result. I was told to provide another sample and she would accompany me to the lab. But the idea of another blood sample (which would mean my effort for being early would have been wasted) put me off. I asked to try myself at the lab. The nurse, already harassed by the manual tasks, could not find my report. She willingly let me go through the small pile, probably only 30 sheets of paper. I managed to find my own report almost at the bottom of the pile. So that saved a needless blood sample and another hour of waiting.
Based on my blood test results on July 18 and 21, I was given the same prescription for the 3rd cycle of chemo treatment. The vitamin was dispensed at the SOPD pharmacy while the chemo drug at the Day Care Complex pharmacy. But before that, I had to book for a CT Scan appointment in September at the XRay department. Which meant another need for waiting which accounted for the length of time I had to be there.
So it was, like a day's 'work', which saved much in hospital charges, when compared with private medical centres.
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Last Thursday was a record for me: left house in BG at 7.15 am and reaching home at 4.30 pm. It takes half an hour to reach Ipoh and the first task was to provide blood sample at Unit Pengambilan Darah. Had to tell the nurse at the counter that I should be given a number beginning with 2 because I needed to take the sample myself to the laboratory and to wait for the result before seeing the doctor. But the computer system was down on that day. It didn't affect me initially as I managed to provide the sample at 8.20 am and was told it would take an hour. Handed in my appointment card at SOPD counter at 8.30 am and was given number 4014, which meant there were 13 patients ahead of me. The queue system for this particular room started only at 9.15 am. By the time I got to see the surgeon, it was already 12.30 pm! Leaving out the time between 8.30 and 9.15, it still took 3 and a quarter hours of waiting time. But to be fair, it took an average of only 15 minutes of consultation per patient. There are 9 rooms, each with at least 2 doctors on duty. But the sheer number of patients makes waiting a necessity. The surgeon told me that she normally skip lunch on busy Thursdays. It is admirable and commendable for her dedication to her profession.
As a result of the system down, the assisting doctor could not access my latest blood test result. I was told to provide another sample and she would accompany me to the lab. But the idea of another blood sample (which would mean my effort for being early would have been wasted) put me off. I asked to try myself at the lab. The nurse, already harassed by the manual tasks, could not find my report. She willingly let me go through the small pile, probably only 30 sheets of paper. I managed to find my own report almost at the bottom of the pile. So that saved a needless blood sample and another hour of waiting.
Based on my blood test results on July 18 and 21, I was given the same prescription for the 3rd cycle of chemo treatment. The vitamin was dispensed at the SOPD pharmacy while the chemo drug at the Day Care Complex pharmacy. But before that, I had to book for a CT Scan appointment in September at the XRay department. Which meant another need for waiting which accounted for the length of time I had to be there.
So it was, like a day's 'work', which saved much in hospital charges, when compared with private medical centres.
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