Are we near to having a vaccine and returning to Thailand?

[Armando]

As I alluded to in my earlier reply, Armando, this year is very different, caused by the pressure on our health service and the extra protective measures required due to Covid-19. The flu vaccination would normally be given at my local general practitioner practice and several days set aside during which eligible patients can attend at any time during the allotted days and obtain their flu vaccination. From memory, this usually takes around 15-20 minutes with a steady stream of patients being vaccinated in an efficient conveyor belt manner. But this year, due to Covid-19, my local surgery will not be carrying out the vaccination programme and I am required to attend during a one hour time slot at a designated local medical centre.

When I lived in Bangkok, due to a recurring problem with my left eye, I had regular experience of two local hospitals, the BNH Hospital on Convent Road and the Bangkok Christian Hospital on Silom Road (BCH). What struck me the most was that I could attend either hospital as a walk-in patient without an appointment. In the case of the BNH, which is the more expensive of the two hospitals, on average I could register at reception, see a nurse, see a doctor, pay the bill and collect my prescription within 30-40 minutes. The timescale at BCH was somewhat longer at one to two hours from start to finish.

In the UK, when I lived in London, my primary ophthalmology consultant was at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell (KCH). I was seen annually, but when an issue arose, an appointment could take many weeks if not months to obtain. And once there, with an appointment, it could take one to two hours before I was seen, then a further hour or more as I was dealt with by a nurse, a doctor then finally seen by the consultant. I was treated at KCH over a 15 year period and the above is typical of my experience. So yes, I am envious of the efficiency I experienced at the Bangkok hospitals I attended but, of course, I had to pay directly for my treatment and not through my taxes and a national insurance scheme (although I no longer contribute to the scheme). And lastly, apologies for the length of my reply.

I assure you no apologies necessary. The Bangkok private hospitals are great. But then they are also pricey The public hospitals like Ramathibodi and Chulalongkorn are perhaps one fifth of the cost but very similar to your NHS treatment. Both are enormous with many buildings spread over a huge area. At Ramathibodi you'd better read Thai as there is no English anywhere.

At Chula you first have to queue up between 5 and 7 in the morning to register. With your registration card in hand, you queue at a nurses station to get an appointment. This will usually be with a young doctor (mine was very cute!) who is a GP on the 13th floor. After a discussion and examination he wanted an x-ray done. This was on another floor. It did not take long but had to be paid for in advance. Back on the 13th floor he was slightly concerned at one indication on the x-ray. So in addition to the procedure I had gone in for he wanted me to see a specialist about the x ray. He gave me a document to take down to another floor. More queuing for a new number. Eventually I was given two pieces of paper rather surprisingly in English. Both were for appointments several weeks later. For the first appointment I waited for 3 1/2 hours. This time I saw a young lady specialist. The only reason for this appointment was for her to give me a new form for the second x-ray. That appointment was three weeks away.

The second x-ray showed there was in fact no problem. I realised the second specialist appointment would merely be a chat before yet anther appointment would be made for the procedure I wanted in the first lplace. As I was in discomfort, I gave up and coughed up for a private hospital. My turn for apologies over length.