Friday, August 20, 2010

And there was no room

...at the hospital!

My SIL's lung collapsed and she had an ambulance (sent by her doctor) waiting for her at her apartment block to pick her to the hospital.

However, not long after she got there, they sent her home, because there was no room available!! Terrible isnt it? How can they do such a thing?? What if something adverse happens when she is alone at home?

What's she to do? My BIL was in Singapore at that time on business, and she was in Perth with her teenage daughter, with no other family to help out. But still she had to go home.

Fortunately BIL managed to beg for a seat on the next available flight back there to see to matters!

I sure hope we never have to face that kind of situation again!

9 comments:

Jo said...

WHAT?? Preposterous!! Hope she's ok though, at home..

doc said...

it's not an uncommon situation where i work.

most mornings, you can't find a parking lot by 10am....

some days, there is full occupancy in the wards & new patients have to be turned away, no matter how severe the illness is..

very occasionally, there's no medical officers on duty at Casualty....

no wonder medical schools & private hospitals are sprouting!!

bp said...

o dear, so terrible! i hope your SIL is alright, and is able to get the medical attention she needs.

Guess we really got to appreciate good and accessible healthcare. when i had a painful ear infection and needed to see a doctor, the clinic i called up gave me an appointment two weeks down the road 'coz i was a brand new patient to the clinic! i thot it was crazy, but they simply did not want to fit me in and told me if it were life-threatening I should go straight to A&E (?!!). i can imagine the aaarrrggghhh-ness over your SIL's case, it's so much more urgent!

iml said...

Surprise that your SIL's condition was not serious enough to warrant her a room for observation.

stay-at-home mum said...

Hi - she will be seeing the specialist on Monday. Meanwhile she is resting at home under the care of her husband and teenage daughter.

iml - they observed her for half a day at the hospital, but had to send her home, coz there were just no room to be admitted to with the instruction that she was NOT to be left alone at any time, and to ge to the A&E if she felt worse!!

TripleJin said...

ayo! that's terrible..but unfortunately, that's happening alot. Just not enough room...medical care in Oz is getting terrible.

Stardust said...

That's terrible to hear. I thought this kind of thing would only happen in Japan. Could it be the increasing population causing such? Hmm... hope your SIL heals soon.

Me back to JP already. So sian. JP is so hot, and I miss SG's food so much. Bleah.

bp said...

how'd your sil's appt with the specialist go? i hope she's bounced back nicely! did they say what caused the collapse?

stay-at-home mum said...

hi all - they finally had a room for her as she had to have her op. her op was on tuesday and she should be home today!

Stardust -how can be sian?? Home to bear already! Hope you brought lots of singapore goodies home with you.