|
|
Post by Cranky on Jul 9, 2012 4:14:11 GMT -5
My father broke his leg and I was in Greece the last few weeks trying, the word is TRYING to deal with the joke that passes as a medical system in Greece.
Would you believe that if a person is in hospital, they are so understaffed that you have to hire you own, very expensive private nurses to look after them OR look after them yourself INSIDE the same room in the hospital? You guys will never, ever believe the joke of people staying inside the hospital to look after their own, 24/7. Screaming matches on a regular basis. Everybody stressed to hell and back.
Would you believe that I had to do 8 trips to deal with ONE piece of paper? Four hours just to get a release paper.
Doctors? The old ones have God complexes like you wont believe. Out of curiosity, I asked to see to see the x-ray so see how bad was his leg break and the doctor first response was to insult me. Of course, he was nice to me after I passed him some hefty graft. The younger doctors are WAY better....and every one of them that I met want to leave the country.
Would you believe that I had to hold down a young large size male patient who had some kind of mental/medical delusion/fit and was throwing steel bed bars across the room (6 other patients and family) and lashing out at anyone who got close to him? While the rest of the so called "man" ran away? So who came in to help? Two nurses who could barely hold down his arm to give him a sedative. Meanwhile, he's screaming and fighting face down while I'm on top of him and holding him down by grabbing on to the steel bed frame on one end and putting all my weight across his back, wrestling style. 20 minutes before I can let go. His mother is screaming for help. Other patients family babbling, yelping, screaming. My father in bed, fifteen feet away. Finally, with amazing timing, 10 minutes after the sedative took effect, two male guards complete with their rent-a-cop wrap around porno star sun glasses came to "help".
A man died (102 years old) in the room and they put a curtain around him for several hours while they waited take him to the morgue. Brilliant. There were five male patients, three of them over 80 years old including my father at 94.
Flies? Mosquitoes? Have you ever seen an old man breath with his mouth open while sleeping? Now imagine that with several flies around his face.
This was sadistic Monty Python material, only it wasn't funny and it was all too f@cken real. After my parents pass away, I'm selling everything there and the entire country can all go to hell.
|
|
|
|
Post by CentreHice on Jul 9, 2012 7:28:20 GMT -5
Nightmarish.
Some questions...
Is that organizational mess consistent throughout the country?
Is the health-care system state or corporately controlled?
When a hard skin forms over medical ethics, empathy, and compassion...(i.e. when those in control don't ensure a properly-run system)....can anarchy be far behind? Maybe it's already begun....and let's hope it can be reversed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jul 9, 2012 7:35:08 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing, HA. I actually don't mind hearing things like this because it reminds me not to take things for granted. Austerity such as this is foreign to many of us, so when I hear of stuff like this it reminds me that, while our health system isn't perfect, it could always be worse.
We do have a standard in our country and with that comes expectation. Yet those expectations become personal standards when they pertain to each one of us individually.
Having said that, I'm not sure what the standard is for Greek healthcare. Have to ask you, though, HA. Other than the god complexes you saw in the older doctors, did you get the impression that the remaining staff were trying the best they could? Sounds like the nurses had their work cut out for them and the young doctors at least had time to talk to you in a civil manner.
Again, thanks for sharing this, HA. I sincerely hope your dad is doing better. At the very least he was fortunate enough to have a son there who was able to make some semblance of order out of the caos that was guised as a hospital routine. Sounds like you gave more of a hoot than those older "doctors" you referred to.
Cheers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Jul 9, 2012 11:28:45 GMT -5
Having said that, I'm not sure what the standard is for Greek healthcare. Have to ask you, though, HA. Other than the god complexes you saw in the older doctors, did you get the impression that the remaining staff were trying the best they could? Sounds like the nurses had their work cut out for them and the young doctors at least had time to talk to you in a civil manner. Cheers. The two surgeons who did the operation (screwed things together) where arrogant assholes. Four days after the operation, I took my father home and in a few days, he started to run a fever. I called one of the doctors and he told me it was nothing to worry about, "he's jut old". Given his arrogance, a f@cken piece of sh!t who didn't give a damn, I decided to take him back to the hospital to find out why. As it turned out, he had a slight infection and he had a cold. At 94 and post surgery, that is life threatening. The new crop of doctors in a different part of the hospital were far, far more responsive and caring. I met two young doctors who by coincidence also spoke English. They had a completely new attitude and where a breeze to work with. In fact, he was going to be released on Friday, they kept him in because his fever was still a bit high and this morning, they kept him in again because his round of antivirals was not complete. Other then the fact that it's costing me $300 a day in nursing care in a "free" system, I can't complain. Mind you, the rest of the effed up system, complete with crumbling hospital and screaming family members is still there. I heard that one of the other surgeon was beaten up a couple of times because he didn't give proper care to his patients and/or he requested money to do the surgery "right". Something that is ILLEGAL to do. Why am I not surprised? Why is it that I want to give my fathers "surgeon" intimate contact with a thick phone book? This is not what I expected to see or go through from a so called "European" socialist country. |
|
|
|
Post by Cranky on Jul 9, 2012 11:33:52 GMT -5
Nightmarish. Some questions... Is that organizational mess consistent throughout the country? Is the health-care system state or corporately controlled? When a hard skin forms over medical ethics, empathy, and compassion...(i.e. when those in control don't ensure a properly-run system)....can anarchy be far behind? Maybe it's already begun....and let's hope it can be reversed. I'm answering with second hand information and the first time I'm exposed to it....... The medical "system" or IKA as they call it is half assed government run "private" system or "insurance" plan. You have to either contribute to it to have coverage or you have to be dirt poor to qualify for it. If you do not work and you don't contribute monthly in some way, you are not covered. It use to be better but when Greece joined the EU, they were forced to cover everyone including migrating Gypsies and illegal immigrants, so the care to those who paid fell through the floor. From what I could see, about a quarter where none Greek. About half in the emergency room where non Greek. It was never well thought out or completely government paid or anything resembling what we call a "government system". That paperwork they had me running around to fill is the disconnect between the hospital and the "insurance" plan. They need to see entry visas, exit visas and other documents that I never had to deal with before. When I pointed out to the people in IKA that we deal with all of this with an OHIP card, the guy response was......if it's that streamlined and efficient, what will happen to all the jobs? You won't argue with that......if you are sane. THAT is why AFTER my parents pass away and I sell everything, I want the country to go to hell.....complete authorized with their triple stamped paperwork. Some of the doctors also practice privately on the side and you have to pay for them. The rest of the country to some extent has the same level of organization. A world of self interest that have done everything possible to benefit themselves at whatever cost to the rest of society. Their "socialism" is nothing more then self serving tripe. This "system" is around for a long time. I heard stories about it but it was the first time I had to deal with it directly. It's the very worse combination of private and public system. |
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jul 9, 2012 11:49:22 GMT -5
Nightmarish. Some questions... Is that organizational mess consistent throughout the country? Is the health-care system state or corporately controlled? When a hard skin forms over medical ethics, empathy, and compassion...(i.e. when those in control don't ensure a properly-run system)....can anarchy be far behind? Maybe it's already begun....and let's hope it can be reversed. I'm answering with second hand information and the first time I'm exposed to it....... The medical "system" or IKA as they call it is half assed government run "private" system or "insurance" plan. You have to either contribute to it to have coverage or you have to be dirt poor to qualify for it. If you do not work and you don't contribute monthly in some way, you are not covered. It use to be better but when Greece joined the EU, they were forced to cover everyone including migrating Gypsies and illegal immigrants, so the care to those who paid fell through the floor. From what I could see, about a quarter where none Greek. About half in the emergency room where non Greek. It was never well thought out or completely government paid or anything resembling what we call a "government system". That paperwork they had me running around to fill is the disconnect between the hospital and the "insurance" plan. They need to see entry visas, exit visas and other documents that I never had to deal with before. When I pointed out to the people in IKA that we deal with all of this with an OHIP card, the guy response was......if it's that streamlined and efficient, what will happen to all the jobs? You won't argue with that......if you are sane. THAT is why AFTER my parents pass away and I sell everything, I want the country to go to hell.....complete authorized with their triple stamped paperwork. Some of the doctors also practice privately on the side and you have to pay for them. The rest of the country to some extent has the same level of organization. A world of self interest that have done everything possible to benefit themselves at whatever cost to the rest of society. Their "socialism" is nothing more then self serving tripe. This "system" is around for a long time. I heard stories about it but it was the first time I had to deal with it directly. It's the very worse combination of private and public system. As an outsider looking in, this scenario seems to be a direct reflection of the austerity that's sweeping over the country now. It's like people can't trust the current system so, regardless of the position/person/what have you, everyone is looking out for themselves; the people or, patients in this case, be damned. Cheers. |
|
|
|
Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Jul 9, 2012 16:23:19 GMT -5
My father broke his leg and I was in Greece the last few weeks trying, the word is TRYING to deal with the joke that passes as a medical system in Greece. Would you believe that if a person is in hospital, they are so understaffed that you have to hire you own, very expensive private nurses to look after them OR look after them yourself INSIDE the same room in the hospital? You guys will never, ever believe the joke of people staying inside the hospital to look after their own, 24/7. Screaming matches on a regular basis. Everybody stressed to hell and back. Would you believe that I had to do 8 trips to deal with ONE piece of paper? Four hours just to get a release paper. Doctors? The old ones have God complexes like you wont believe. Out of curiosity, I asked to see to see the x-ray so see how bad was his leg break and the doctor first response was to insult me. Of course, he was nice to me after I passed him some hefty graft. The younger doctors are WAY better....and every one of them that I met want to leave the country. Would you believe that I had to hold down a young large size male patient who had some kind of mental/medical delusion/fit and was throwing steel bed bars across the room (6 other patients and family) and lashing out at anyone who got close to him? While the rest of the so called "man" ran away? So who came in to help? Two nurses who could barely hold down his arm to give him a sedative. Meanwhile, he's screaming and fighting face down while I'm on top of him and holding him down by grabbing on to the steel bed frame on one end and putting all my weight across his back, wrestling style. 20 minutes before I can let go. His mother is screaming for help. Other patients family babbling, yelping, screaming. My father in bed, fifteen feet away. Finally, with amazing timing, 10 minutes after the sedative took effect, two male guards complete with their rent-a-cop wrap around porno star sun glasses came to "help". A man died (102 years old) in the room and they put a curtain around him for several hours while they waited take him to the morgue. Brilliant. There were five male patients, three of them over 80 years old including my father at 94. Flies? Mosquitoes? Have you ever seen an old man breath with his mouth open while sleeping? Now imagine that with several flies around his face. This was sadistic Monty Python material, only it wasn't funny and it was all too f@cken real. After my parents pass away, I'm selling everything there and the entire country can all go to hell. I am truly sorry to hear of your loss and the circumstances surrounding it. The Canadian system isn't perfect nor is the American one, but they are far superior to the atrocity you experienced. It is nice to have a benevolent inclusive society but it breaks down when spending outweighs revenue. |
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jul 10, 2012 16:52:29 GMT -5
It is nice to have a benevolent inclusive society but it breaks down when spending outweighs revenue. People do and say things they wouldn't otherwise do and say, when they're in need of everything. Certainly doesn't excuse what transpired here, though. Cheers. |
|
