I had an episode of anaphylactic shock. last nigh,
Golly Dolno, I'm so sorry to hear that. You poor thing. All the best to you and Mrs Dolno and get well soon.
Shame on Poland
Well now here's my own story from just a couple of weeks and this really beggars belief.
Mr Atch's health insurance (and thus mine as spouse) is normally covered by his job. However it had lapsed as he was in the process of changing jobs and decided to take the summer off. As we're both in good health without any chronic conditions health insurance never enters out heads as a rule (silly I know) and what should happen but a medical emergency at 5 o' clock in the morning, so we had to call 911 as opposed to the hotline that normally goes with an insurance package (although I didn't even know there was such a thing!). Anyway - you won't belive this, he's lying on the floor, in the worst pain of his life, on the verge of losing consciousness and your woman on the switchboard says 'do you think we send ambulances to people just because they have a pain in their stomach. Go to the Apteka and get ibuprofen and No-Spa'.
When we finally managed to get to the hospital a couple of hours later, they told him it was stress. Next day he was back there - more tests - kidney stones.
Now, ok, kidney stones are not life threatening but how did the old cow on the switchboard know what he had? It could have been a burst ulcer or appendix and he could have died. To be refused an ambulance is outrageous. My sister worked as a volunteer paramedic in Germany and as she said, it's not up to the switchboard to make a medical diagnosis, even if the switchboard were being manned by a trained paramedic or nurse. A diagnosis cannot be made over the phone. Their role is to send the ambulance who make an assessment and decide whether the person can be treated on the spot or needs to be admitted to hospital.
I'm also not satisfied with the treatment he received on his initial visit as they did a scan which included the kidneys and missed the presence of the kidney stone. There were also a couple of other minor things that showed up which he wasn't told about and which I only spotted because I read the test results (had to put them in Google translate, my Polish is not THAT good!). They're not serious things but could potentially be if they're not monitored. He should have been told about them and given advice.
By the way he wasn't covered by ZUS despite having paid a fortune in contributions as he wasn't registered as 'unemployed' so we had to pay for the tests, a few hundred.
Anyway, on the second visit he was prescribed the necessary meds (although for some bizarre reason he was given a course of antibiotics in addition to the other stuff. The doctor had said there was no sign of infection so I wouldn't let him take the anti-biotics. You shouldn't take them unless you really need them) and thankfully the stones dissolved enough to be passed without needing intervention.
Mr Atch said that the staff in the first hospital were 'quite nice' though with the usual brusque manner. However he was then transferred to a second hospital where he said it was Poland B despite being in Warsaw. He said the place was in a shocking state and that the staff were at best socially inept, including the doctor who dealt with him. He said 'I was treated ok, because I looked 'respectable' but their manner with other patients..........'
But to me, the worst part of the whole thing was the refusal to send an ambulance. I find that utterly shocking and really frightening.
I'm afraid it's that Banana Republic vibe which crops up all the time in PoIand that can't I cope with. If you have money and can afford a private ambulance you're ok. If you're just an 'ordinary' person you could die on the floor of your own home. It disgusts me. Ireland may have its faults but you would never, never be refused an ambulance.