State Hospitals

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Was having a conversation in the office about State vs Private health care in the Cape - I've got nothing against the State and their level of care for the patient is just as good as the private sector, the difference is the time it takes to get attended to (and this is critical) and how they look after the patients family (State does nothing here whereas the Private hospital goes out of their way).

Now we have a hospital plan and will never give it up even though the thought of ending up in a State hospital does not scare me (OK, only if its in the Cape) but I also tell a lot of my friends that if you cannot afford a hospital plan then don't even try to do it as you will not have it when you need, not to mention the amount of debt you will find yourself in.

 

[Jennifer Lopez]

State vs private - Costs - Debts etc

The same elderly person - who is my neighbour, fell very ill last year and rang me when he did. We could not get hold of his son-in-law and I put him in the car and rushed him to the nearest emergency room i.e Umhlanga Hospital. I had to provide them payments details so gave them my credit card. For the the four hours that he lay in the emergency room they charged R3500 for oxygen, x-rays and bloods. When his daughter/son-in-law arrived they made arrangements for him to be transported to a state hospital by ambulance. For this a further R1000 was charged. Whilst the daughter paid the cash back into my credit card - I was still horrified that with very little treatment they charged such an exorbitant amount

 

[medicnick83]

Welcome to state hospitals - patience is a virtue!