'Miscommunication' blamed as woman told to leave hospital
The deputy director of Sa Kaew's Aranyaprathet Hospital on Friday said that a woman who was told by a doctor to go away “because the hospital is not a convenience store” was caused by miscommunication and an overwhelmed medical staff.
The woman, who was seeking treatment for a headache and coughing, and was later found to be suffering from the common cold, attended the hospital emergency ward on Thursday night at 9pm, hospital deputy director Dr Sorawit Chalalai said.
He said that there were many critical cases at the same time, including two stroke patients that needed respiratory aid tube insertion, one coronary artery disease patient, a patient suffering from paralysis triggered by a herniated disc, two patients with open wounds, and four or five high blood pressure cases that needed urgent treatment, although they were not critical.
The two available doctors were under stress and overwhelmed and the woman was told to seek treatment the following day.
Sorawit went with a medical team from Tambon Khlong Nam Sai health promotion hospital as well as district chief Saowanit Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya to visit the 24-year-old woman on Friday morning.
He said they attempted to clarify what happened at the hospital and explained that it was the result of a misunderstanding and was a lesson for the hospital to improve its services. He said the hospital executives had already verbally warned the unnamed doctor about his communication with patients.
Sa Kaew health office deputy chief Dr Onrat Chanpen said these days personnel at hospitals are working hard and are overwhelmed due to the manpower shortage and the province's expansion.
She said the Public Health Ministry executives were trying to solve the overall problem and move forward with projects including the "Mor Krob Krua" family doctor clinic project to give primary care to people in communities and lessen overcrowding at big hospitals.