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Fractures and HK Public Hospitals - some info

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  1. #1

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    Fractures and HK Public Hospitals - some info

    Having recently broken my leg, spent time in a public hospital and also done the outpatient clinic/x-ray run, I thought I would share some experiences for others who have similar or wonder how it all works.

    I fell and fractured my ankle, hurt my head, knee and shoulder. Couldn't walk. A bystander called the ambulance (I was on my own at the time). Ambulance took about 10 minutes. They didn't speak much English (a little, enough), they stuck me on a stretcher, cleaned the wounds and carted me off to the nearest hospital (Yan Chai hospital in Tsuen Wan).

    The A&E dept was pretty efficient. I lay on a bed for a while, several doctors came and asked me the same questions. They asked for my ID card every 10 minutes or so, so lesson #1 is ALWAYS CARRY YOUR ID CARD WITH YOU! I think the whole experience would have been far less smooth if I had not had it on me.

    Took about 2 hours to get x-rayed and admitted to the hospital. (I couldn't even stand, no way I could go home at that point).

    The room was fine - it had 3 beds in it, and mine was the only one occupied for the first 24 hours I was in there. They never really turn the lights off though so I found sleeping hard, but dozed a lot. People come and poke and prod you a lot and take readings - I think that's pretty normal. Visiting hours were morning (2 hours, 11-12 or so if I recall) and evening (5-8pm). While I was in the hospital I was seen by the doctors several times, got a cast put on, had a physio session, was helped to have a shower - it was all good.

    On leaving you have to go to the Shroff to pay (which was in another part of the hospital). I was loaned a wheelchair for a week (free). The total cost I paid was HKD200 - HKD100 for the ambulance and 100 for the overnight and everything else. I was given various pieces of paper and told to come back in 2 weeks.

    My first trip back was for an x-ray and an outpatient consultation in the Fractures Outpatient Clinics. This is where I can hopefully offer some useful information....

    The first trip back, I followed the instructions on the paper. Lesson #2 IGNORE THE INSTRUCTIONS!

    My appointment was 10am and I was told I needed an x-ray before it so I turned up at 9am for the x-ray. It was an absolute zoo. There was a lady handing out numbers, which was the "pre-registration". The numbers were called up in batches of 10 - this allowed you to approach the "x-ray registration" desk and register for your x-ray. (Hand over paper and ID card - no money). They then give you a different piece of paper and send you round the corner for an x-ray. There was another zoo around the corner with about 40 seats (all full) and people standing and other lying in beds. Waiting for pre-registration was about 30 mins; getting registered about 10 minutes; waiting for the actual x-ray about 2 hours. By which time my appointment was well past!

    Lesson#3 - as I found out later, you can GET YOUR X-RAY DONE THE DAY BEFORE! All the clinics are at the same time, everyone turns up for their x-ray at the same time so it's a madhouse. But... if you come back in the afternoon around 4pm (before it closes at 5pm) you will find nobody. No zoo. Nobody handing out numbers. Walk straight up to the registration desk, get registered, walk around the corner to an empty x-ray area and get x-rayed straight away. Total time on my second trip employing this strategy - 15 mins from entry to exit.

    You get x-rayed and then you have to go to the outpatient clinic! BUT WAIT! Don't go up to the clinic... first you have to go to the Shroff and pay. (Cost HKD60). They then give you a ticket with a number on it - a waiting number and a room number. Go upstairs to the clinic and join the zoo.

    Lesson # 4 - pay NO ATTENTION AT ALL to the numbers on all the big screens. They show the person in each room, and the next 2 people. This is complete fiction. On my first trip I was showing up as "next" on the screen next to "my" room. Then my number vanished and reappeared on another room. I went and waited by that room.. I was going to be in 2 people's time... then another number (not listed) came up and went in... then another... and another... then my number vanished for a while and more people went in... and eventually my number was shown. I asked the doc when I got in what was going on - he said the system does not recognise whether the x-rays have appeared or not, so it jumps people forward whose x-rays are available. Total time at this stage - approx 1-2 hours.

    (REPEAT LESSON #3 - GET YOUR x-RAY DONE THE DAY BEFORE!).

    Anyway - I hope this is useful to anyone who gets injured out and about in HK. The public system is very good but it's slightly convoluted if you don't speak much English. Knowing which queue you are supposed to be in at any point in time saves a lot of hassle so if you have a Cantonese friend, bringing them to the outpatient clinic the first time you do it might be a bonus. (I did all of the above on my own, with zero Cantonese and not too many errors so its certainly not impossible to navigate).


  2. #2

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    As I recall HK_Katherine, you may ask for a translator - if that can help.
    Never had to ask for one, but I recall that the option was there (no idea if efficient or not)

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  3. #3

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    Get well soon.

    Cho-man likes this.

  4. #4

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    This somewhat mirrors my experience with the wife giving birth in the public system and the various appointments that we attended. Essentially either attend much earlier than asked in order to be allocated one of the first numbers in the waiting system or show up much later than the time allocated once the place is no longer a zoo...


  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    ...They asked for my ID card every 10 minutes or so, so lesson #1 is ALWAYS CARRY YOUR ID CARD WITH YOU! ..
    This bit is worth repeating.
    Having been involved in an airlift & ambulance not too long ago, this is spot on - you need your card (seems like) a zillion times. The gears of the machine dont move without the card it feels like...

    I wonder what they would do if you said "I don't have..."

  6. #6

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    My experiences with the system for a broken finger (much less serious but involving many x-rays) was very similar. I used Tung Chung hospital, which is all new and shiny, and it was much less crowded than other public hospitals I'd used.

    I don't speak a word of Canto but was able to negotiate everything, but the trick I found is to do not assume anything - ask somebody if you are doing it right at every stage. Are you sitting in the right area? Do you have all the right bits of paper? Do you pay now, or later? Don't just think "it'll be alright" because if you don't have all the correct documents or the right chop you'll be made to go back and get it. So ask every time.

    My experience is that the public system has really good care, but terrible communication. Don't expect to be told what to do, they'll expect you to just know so make sure you get somebody to explain it to you at every stage.

    Another tip is to tell the receptionist your name in order, and get them to put a note on how to call you. I kept missing the announcements because they were calling me by my middle name only and it didn't register that they meant me! It's because they write your name in the Chinese way on the record, but most people know that foreigners tend to put their surname last so read it that way.

    Hope you recover soon Katherine!


  7. #7

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    $100 for the Ambulance, Holy Crap, thought that was FREEEEEEEEEE unless its a St Johns Ambulance.


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by wtbhotia:
    $100 for the Ambulance, Holy Crap, thought that was FREEEEEEEEEE unless its a St Johns Ambulance.
    I doubt a taxi would have been much cheaper! The ambulance gave me a "bill" when they left me in A&E, so I worried I had to settle it separately, but I didn't it was all included in the final bill at the hospital.

  9. #9

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    An excellent guide, Katherine.

    Will just add that if you arrive at A&E without an ambulance, you need to pay, register, and then wait for triage (at Tuen Mun Hospital this is just next to the registration desk).

    The triage nurse will give you a numbered ticket (if you don't get whisked straight in), and then you wait. And wait. And wait. At some stage before you get to see a doctor, you will be called to collect your file ... and then you wait some more ...

    BUT - as I just discovered a few weeks back - some relatively minor cases now get to skip some of the wait for a doctor because they get seen by a nurse-practitioner in the first instance. The NPs can get you in for x-rays, tetanus/ rabies shots, prescribe medication, plaster simple fractures, or refer you further up the ladder.
    (this discovery was made following a fall which left me with a rather squashed hand )

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  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    I doubt a taxi would have been much cheaper! The ambulance gave me a "bill" when they left me in A&E, so I worried I had to settle it separately, but I didn't it was all included in the final bill at the hospital.
    Was it a normal ambulance ?

    Me : with Helicopter and Ambulance, I paid nothing (just the $100 for the hospital)
    My kid : ambulance to Tung Chung hospital, also nothing (just the $100 for the hospital)

    I'm wondering why they charged you.....
    wtbhotia likes this.

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