My first experience as a hospital patient in 40 years was San Paolo. An emergency appendectomy saw me left for 5 hours in extreme pain on a gurney, until the Surgeon finished his day job at Hua Hin hospital.
and a bill of 84,000 baht, which would have been more, had I not insisted on being released.
Suggest you go direct to Hua Hin hospital next time its far far cheaper and the same surgeon
The question was BKK vs SP. Sarge has now mentioned HH hospital.
IMO the best hospital by far is not in Hua Hin but Petchaburi. The Petcharat.
HH hospital is not in the same league really as it caters more for poor Thais and I was surprised to hear that they even have surgeons. I've been visiting someone there and been told that there are no doctors present at the moment. Anyway back to the OP's question, BKH vs SP
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
midlandmike wrote:Richard I would be interested in your positive feelings about The Petcharat.
I'll give you mine:
- much cheaper
- less waiting times
- they use their diagnostic equipment, rather than the guesswork at BKK, Hua Hin
- they don't bullshit. If they don't know, they say so, rather than guess. They will find soebody who does know, and arrange instant referral.
On the minus side:
- not as clean (but clean enough)
- do not speak such good English
- food is abysmal
- never any soap towels in the public loos
I've used Petcharat four times in the last 5 years and all for serious internal illnesses and agree with all that Big Boy has said.
I will add:
1) They consult your personal doctor and also any other doctor/hospital who have treated you for a related illness as do most professional hospitals (something neither SP or BK do) They also consult with your doctor about your current medication. Both SP and BK refused to consult my doctor about my ongoing medication and SP even stated 'you are our patient now. You no longer should do as your doctor says'. I reported the latter to the Thai Medical Council to ne effect.
2) If they do not have the equipment or have an equipment failure they will at minimal cost ferry you to a hospital that does for treatment and return. At BK hospital they had not got the specific machine to do the job so they washed their hands of me and at a horrendous cost shipped me to SP who had the gear.
3) Good food can be ordered from outside. Their internal food is pure third rate Thai slop
4) Like almost all hospitals you are expected to be tended by your guests whether wife/gf/family or friends so their nursing care is restricted to the basic nurse functions.
5) Their doctors are more responsive to casual chat and are prompt in providing you with information. i.e. What time will I be discharged.
6) A medical report is provided without request and a detailed breakdown of costs will be provided at anytime.
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
richard wrote:2) If they do not have the equipment or have an equipment failure they will at minimal cost ferry you to a hospital that does for treatment and return. At BK hospital they had not got the specific machine to do the job so they washed their hands of me and at a horrendous cost shipped me to SP who had the gear.
On this point in my case, BKK had the equipment, but couldn't be bothered to use it. Instead they relied on the doctor's gut feeling, which was proved to be wrong. I went to Petcharat, and within an hour, tests had been completed, results received and medication changed. I was being treated for completely the wrong thing, and BKK's treatment would never have cured me.
Please don't get me wrong, BKK seem to have state of the art everything.
One admission made to me when discussing the need for my recent operations, and I was opting for transfer to Petcharat because of previous mis-diagnosis by BKK was that they'd changed many of the previous doctors . That to me was a very telling statement.
Machinery in Medicine.They taught us in medical school in the UK, that 80% of the useful information you get is from 1 What the patient tells you and 2 A simple through physical examination. The machinery whether in the Lab or the Imaging department is to confirm the suspicions made after obtaining 1 and 2.
In performing a test there are 7 steps.
1 Dr orders the test
2 The test is done
3 The image or lab test is interpreted by the Dr in the respective dept
4 Result of test is sent to treating Dr.
5 Dr puts that info all together along with info from 1 and 2
6 Makes a diagnosis (hopefully)
7 Discusses the findings with the patient.
So DOING the test is only one part of the process, that step is mechanical all the other steps are human. State-of-the-art machinery is only as good as the humans using them.
A CT scan, MRI or lab test never cured anybody of anything.
Of the 7 steps, 7 is the one most frequently done poorly and this NOT a Thai problem, it is a universal failing.
Dr Mike wrote:80% of the useful information you get is from 1 What the patient tells you and 2 A simple through physical examination.
In my visits to BKK Step 1 was done step 2 was not done. My medication on one occasion was based on step 1. That was for treatment of an ailment I had recovered from but had told them about it.
All in all BKK doctors are third rate IMO.
My private doctor spends at least 30 minutes giving me the traditional (no machines) physical examination BEFORE we discus how I'm feeling.
Today's doctors I'm afraid are 'cowboys' and a good friend of mine who was a UK GP and served his time on the British Medical Council confirms this
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
richard wrote:Today's doctors I'm afraid are 'cowboys' and a good friend of mine who was a UK GP and served his time on the British Medical Council confirms this
Just to muddy the waters a little bit I will offer up my opinions as I have been serviced by all three Hua Hin Hospitals, Petcharat, and two Bangkok (located) hospitals in my nine years here, thankfully though, I can only give opinions of their outpatient services as I have not needed to spend a night in one (knock wood and thank Buddha!) except as a guest when my wife was the patient. I'll be wandering a little off topic in mentioning the other hospitals I've had experiences with but will also cover visits to both hospitals asked about in the OP.
Bangkok Hospital Hua Hin - I've been there twice. With the exception of when Dr. Mike was working there and actually took the time to chat with me and bring out the head doc to hear my opinions of their service and what would improve it for foreigners, it seemed very impersonal and the doctors were not interested in hearing my thoughts but only in their own opinions. I had two long time personal physicians in the U.S. and they both told me that a patient has lived with his body for however many years old he/she is and a good doctor listens carefully to what they say about how they feel as that can be more helpful than tests in getting the correct diagnosis. I also thought BkkH HH was overpriced.
San Paulo - Been there once and would never go back. Totally misdiagnosed my problem and it could have been fatal (and was grossly overcharged for a wrong diagnosis and incorrect medications). As I suffered through the night and was worse the next morning I then went to the Polyclinic (now gone but was a local branch of Petcharat) and was immediately diagnosed correctly and meds changed. Got well rapidly after that. Having said that, I did go to San Paulo in the middle of the night and there was only one young doctor on duty so my experience may have been totally different during the day with a more experienced staff there.
Hua Hin Hospital - Nothing bad to say about the place. I've been there twice, once for a routine problem but as a farang I was immediately directed to the ER and once for a (possibly) serious emergency also to the ER. I was treated well and fast both times, though both times I was given emergency treatment/diagnosis and then told to see a specialist in Bangkok as they did not have the type of physicians I needed on staff.
Petcharat in Petchaburi - I went there almost exclusively for the first three or four years I was here as they had a good reputation as a reasonably priced competent private hospital. I was always treated fast and treated well and in a friendly manner by all the staff there. I went a couple of times without my wife and they had a lady who spoke English accompany me to each station or department every time I was moved and make sure I knew what they were doing. Then while there having a routine physical I was told I had a potentially life threatening heart condition due to something they spotted (and pointed out to me) in an x-ray. After stressing over it for a while I made the trek to Bumrungrad in Bangkok for a complete checkup by their cardiac department including a cardiac ultrasound and a treadmill test. They said the diagnosis from Petcharat was totally incorrect and that the only way it could have happened is if they mixed up my x-ray with another patient's. Good for me (besides the extra expense of going to Bumrungrad and the stress in the meantime), but what about the other guy who got a clean bill of health but actually had a potentially serious heart problem. I called on the phone and tried to explain to them but they weren't interested in hearing that they had made such a mistake. I've not been back.
Bumrungrad Bangkok - In my early richer days I went there a few times for physical exams. It is clean and efficient and you feel more like you are in a 5 star hotel than a hospital, however you also pay a 5 star price and the last time I was there I had long waits at each checkup station due to incredible numbers of large Arab families ahead of me getting checkups.
Finally, my hospital of choice is St. Louis in Bangkok. It is a not for profit private hospital owned and operated by the Catholic church. I get all my checkups there and have seen one doctor for a minor problem. My wife had fairly major surgery there and we both spent nearly a week (I had a private hotel type room on another floor) there while she recovered. All my experiences there have been good and the prices are about half those charged by other private hospitals. Of course, Bangkok is too far for an emergency so I would probably ask to be taken to either Bangkok hospital or Hua Hin government hospital in that case.
I realize the problems I've had at any of the hospitals mentioned can and do occur at hospitals all over the world. Nobody's perfect and doctors do make mistakes and incorrect diagnosis at times and I suppose, even though it seems unlikely (and very scary), test results can get mixed up anywhere as well.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
hhfarang wrote:Petcharat in Petchaburi -........I went a couple of times without my wife and they had a lady who spoke English accompany me to each station or department every time I was moved and make sure I knew what they were doing.
Thanks HHF. I had forgotten to mention that bit. There are actually 2 ladies employed for this task. One is a pretty young(ish) girl, and the other a more mature woman. They are both very friendly/helpful, and both made regular room visits while I was an inpatient - just for a chat. Whenever, we go for routine check-ups, they are always there, and happy to help/give advice.
When I took my wife there for a problem that had been mis-diagnosed by BKK hospital, the doctor openly admitted that neither she nor anybody else at the hospital was qualified to treat my wife (something that BKK would never do, even though they weren't qualified). The older mature woman butted in and advised of a doctor in Petchaburi who could help my wife (he turned out to be a very rare find indeed - nobody else had the right qualifications for miles outside of Bangkok). She then arranged for a motorbike taxi who I could follow to his clinic. My wife will attend his clinic every 6 weeks for the rest of her life.
The fact is that these 2 ladies are a god send when at Petcharat. This service is provided at no extra cost, and they just latch on to any Farang when they enter the hospital, even as in the example above it is not the Farang being treated. A very helpful service.
now the topic has slide allready I would ask if its still possible to use the military hospital in Pranburi ?
I remember some good feedback a couple a years ago.
. That to me was a very telling statement.
