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Hong Kong Hospitals overloaded

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  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by East_coast:
    A&E is still cheaper than a GP.

    A&E should be more expensive unless you are admitted.
    Reduce the price of the GP then

  2. #12

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    Or, crazy idea, use some of the billions of surplus money the government has in providing for more facilities?


  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    Or, crazy idea, use some of the billions of surplus money the government has in providing for more facilities?
    I think you have been drinking too much this NY eve . As if.

  4. #14

    According to a good friend of mine who has been an ER doctor at government hospitals for 10 plus years with the latest stint at Queen Elizabeth, the problem with long waiting periods at emergency rooms is because too many people who do not need emergency care nevertheless clog up the system since it costs next to nothing. He said roughly 30 to 40 percent of all emergency cases can be treated with Panadol, bed rest and fluids. The real victims he said are the people,who actually need emergency care but are inevitably delayed due to stupid and selfish people who can't stay away from government handouts.


  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    Or, crazy idea, use some of the billions of surplus money the government has in providing for more facilities?
    rediculus

    Child poverty alleviation work by Hong Kong government ‘consistently failed’ in 2017 | South China Morning Post

    there are more important things that need to be done.






    The 3rd runway so control of HK airspace can be gifted to GZ

  6. #16

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    Original Post Deleted
    I get your point but flu kills a few hundred people per year in Hong Kong so SOME need to go to hospital.
    East_coast and z754103 like this.

  7. #17

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    Original Post Deleted
    Because it is cheaper than going to the doctor also the Flu is still relatively serious for many in Hong Kong as the population is aging.


  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    I get your point but flu kills a few hundred people per year in Hong Kong so SOME need to go to hospital.
    Actual Flu is still a reportable disease in Hong Kong.

    https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/flu...2_2017_eng.pdf

  9. #19
    Non-urgent patients visiting emergency wards at Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon had to wait for up to eight hours before being seen by a doctor.
    'Non-urgent patient' is a euphemism for hypochondriac. How can you convince a hypochondriac that instead of seeking medical treatment, all that is required to recover from a minor illness is treatment with panadol, bed rest and fluids?
    East_coast and mrgoodkat like this.

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ebi the shrimp:
    'Non-urgent patient' is a euphemism for hypochondriac. How can you convince a hypochondriac that instead of seeking medical treatment, all that is required to recover from a minor illness is treatment with panadol, bed rest and fluids?
    Be fair. I'm sure there are a number of hypochondriacs among the general HK population. However, it is often difficult for the lay person to tell if they have something seriously wrong or not. Easy for a doctor who has trained for years to say there's nothing serious wrong, not so easy for ordinary folk. And even trained experienced doctors can misdiagnose.

    Examples - symptoms for an elderly person are very similar for stroke, UTI, kidney infection, dementia, or reaction to certain medication. When women have heart attacks, the symptoms can often present as backache or indigestion (which is why female heart attacks are often under diagnosed). When your child has a persistent high fever with vomiting and swollen glands, can you really be sure it's just a stomach bug, and not sepsis?

    It's not pleasant to spend 7-8 hours waiting in a public hospital, and staying in a public ward is also not pleasant. Many HK people are instinctively aware that many private sector doctors don't provide the highest standards of medical care (many do, but it's fairly random). Just look at the number of GPs who routinely hand out antibiotics unnecessarily. If something looks potentially dodgy, even if it turns out to be minor in the end, you'd still want it checked out by medical staff for whom there's no inherent conflict of interest in giving you the most appropriate care, who are subject to stringent processes, and public scrutiny in the event that anything goes wrong. That's why you have people willing to wait for so long. They're not doctors, they can't self diagnose accurately whether their mother has just had a stroke or electrolyte imbalance or an UTI that can be taken care of at home.

    The problem isn't people turning up at public hospitals. It is deliberate long term underfunding of the public healthcare system despite ample public finances, and a refusal to implement sustainable schemes for public healthcare. The theory being if you get the system to breakdown through neglect, you can then tell everyone it's not working, and get out of providing public healthcare. Look, we can be just like the most advanced country in the world, America! Wowee.

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