Monday, September 13, 2010

Medical emergency?

My youngest daughter woke up this morning with a bad tummy ache.  She didn't want to do anything just laid on the couch clenching her tummy the whole morning. Now this really gave me a flash back, if I still lived in Canada,   I would have bundled her up thrown her in the car and taken her to the emergency and put up with the ten hours of waiting in the waiting room, like the over-protective mother I am.  This is just how it is in North America.  Only if we have a small complaint that (we feel) can wait will we call our general practitioner and make an appointment. 

In the Netherlands it is much different and probably much more efficient.  You are only granted entry into the emergency with permission from your general practitioner or if you have been brought in by an ambulance.  Otherwise you must call your doctor and he will decide if he needs to see you right away. There is an after hours clinic that also requires you to call them first.  The secretary or doctors assistant will decide if your medical emergency needs immediate attention or can wait until your own general practitioner sees you in the morning. Personally I do like this method, this frees up the emergency room for REAL emergencies. 

So anyways, I called my own family doctor this morning and he was on vacation.  I swear this man goes on vacation at least 3 times a year (or only when ever I need to make an appointment).  I don't think my Canadian family doctor ever went on vacation or even had a sick day for that matter.  So I get the doctor answering machine telling me to call the "doktersdienst" Doctors service who will then direct me to the doctor who is taking my doctors patients.  I called the suggested doctor and they requested we wait to see if the pain gets worse.  I can imagine they are getting double the amount of patients today.  After a visit to the bathroom, my daughter is already feeling much better, is now dancing and singing to the Backyardigans and will probably go back to school before the day is out.. 


This is the new hospital about to be opened in my city.  It's been really neat watching it being built over the last year or so and in a few weeks it will be in full working order.  

8 comments:

Pinay in Dutchland said...

Oh don´t even get me started on those doctors. There was one time around Christmas season that I badly needed a doctor and couldn´t get hold of anyone. And do you know that they are required to give you an alternative if your doctor is not around. Nobody gave me one. Luckily, I was admitted to the emergency room and was diagnosed quickly. They really should start teaching them about the meaning of real health CARE here.

Unknown said...

It's true that in many cases, the emergency room gets filled with people with no real emergencies. But I think that while their system is time-efficient, it is actually not totally efficient in the way they treat patients. Unfortunately, I learnt this the hard way...
Glad to hear your daughter is feeling well!

Orange said...

Good to hear that your daughter is doing well now. I am not a fan of this kind of emergency handling - though fortunately I have only good experiences to share. Doctors here do go on holidays more often than what we had in India but in almost all situations they are required to have alternative in place.

Sonya said...

Poor thing, Im glad she is ok. Im not a fan of some of the care here and because of that I never go in..lol however I will say I love knowing that when we do need to be seen there isn't some crazy co-pay to worry about..you just go in and get some help.

I miss the Urgent Care system though..back home we could go in without having to go to the emergency room.

The Cooking Photographer said...

I'm sorry your daughter was sick. I feel so helpless when that happens to mine. I know where you're coming from.

I just wanted to thank-you. No one ever leaves a comment on that cookie post anymore, and you made my day when I read it!

Laura

Invader_Stu said...

Glade to hear she was feeling better.

Isn't that the new hospital in Rotterdam? I'm used to seeing it from the train station so I was not sure.

Candee said...

It's the new hospital in Zutphen (the other side of the country) ;-)

susymac said...

i'm a Canadian living in provincie Groningen and actually working as a nurse in a huisartsenpraktijk (gp's practice)...and yep! i can attest that for the most part, healthcare in the first-line is SO much better than in Québec, where i'm from!! NO comparison!
...as for huisarts vacation days...they get an unbelievable 10 weeks vacation/year!! AARRGGHH!!!...i get only the half of that, but seriously would love those 10 amazing weeks!
glad your daughter is better!