1641 Hospital emergency

I have just got back from our local hospital after my 7 yr old daughter pulled the towel rail off, fell backwards and banged her head on the bidet. Very scarey when she told me she could not see, and her pupils were like marbles.
So I razzed down to the A & E where there were loads of staff and no patients, We were attended to immediately,I was already in their computer system, and although they thought she was safe they offered to keep her in and offered me a bed as well!
Thats my first experience of Italian med care and I know it may not always be this good, but I have to compare it with UK and know that the service there would not be anything like this!

Category
Health & Safety

A while back my husband tried to set fire to himself with a garden fire and had to go to pronto securo. He said it was fantastic in comparision to the UK

Hi all,

6 years ago I was taken into hospital in Verona on a Friday night with severe pains. Without boring you all about what was wrong with me, I was operated on the following evening. Throughout my stay in hospital (one week), there was at least one surgeon and one doctor in the ward all day. The nurses helped me take my first steps after my op, my bed was changed twice a day (it was summer) and I was washed twice a day. There was plenty of nurses on hand all day, if you rang the bell they were there immediately. Food was cooked on the premises. To me it was like it was many years back in the UK when you actually had nurses that looked after you.

During my stay in hospital in the UK when I returned (another op) instead of nurses helping with my first steps I was given drugs instead. I could have run round the ward straight after my operation. The surgeons were only in in the morning. After the first day we didn't really see a nurse. The food was shipped in although it was quite good.

Both services did the job, whilst the UK was a bit more modernised I can't help but thinking the Italian hospital was better.

I hope I don't upset any English nurses out there, I do believe the national health service is wonderful and so are you but things seem to have got a bit lost in the UK.

Is your daughter ok Herealready? Do hope so - kids are amazingly resilient - my stepson flew off his bike in Nottingham this summer, knocked himself out cold,fractured his skull but is right as rain now and appeared to be fine within 24 hrs of the accident.
He won't be on a bike without a helmet ever again. Scared his mum stupid at the time.
I think most hospitals are brilliant at kids with damaged heads though - they kept him in overnight with a bed for mum too.
Have only had to use Amandola's A&E once - they were brilliant as well. No queue no charge and charming with it.

M

The article in Italy mag. a while back gave a good view of the Health System too, it's comforting to read so many good reports though, hope everyone fit and well now.

Yes thanks Marinaw, Millie is fine now, Where in Derbyshire? MY stepson lives in Matlock.

Thats good news. We're in Glossop - bit further north, just at the end of the snake pass..
Kids. Bouncy things thank god.

M

[QUOTE=valgee]
I hope I don't upset any English nurses out there, I do believe the national health service is wonderful and so are you but things seem to have got a bit lost in the UK.[/QUOTE]

I am a nurse in the NHS and feel as you do about the situation in the UK, so no I'm far from upset.

Glad your kids ok, now get rid of the useless sock washer I mean bidet immediately :mad:

[QUOTE=trullomartinafranca]I am a nurse in the NHS and feel as you do about the situation in the UK, so no I'm far from upset.[/QUOTE]

Glad I didn't upset you.

By the way everyone, please click on my profile to see the latest picture. I wanted it as an avatar but can't find way to do it on this site. I presume there are none.

[QUOTE=valgee]........

By the way everyone, please click on my profile to see the latest picture. I wanted it as an avatar but can't find way to do it on this site. I presume there are none.[/QUOTE]

Awwww so cute!!! :):)

... a thread which funnily enough is relevant to the news in italy over the last month or so....

it all started in sicily.... first one child died from something going wrong during some simple routine operation... then another then a third... in three different hospitals in just a week .... all for supposedly minor conditions or operations.the first three all in sicily..... in all nine deaths were reported for what were seen as irregularities in their treatment.. not only in sicily i must add.... a debate then started amongst news programs and it seems now that people that can afford to very rarely opt for the public facilities....... just the other day someone was on a dyalysis machine and air entered the blood supply... the results ... now in a coma... and almost every day in some newspaper or some news program another calamity is reported...from ambulances never arriving to just plain malpractice

really italy is no better or worse than anywhere else.... and the health system here is as under as much strain as most others in the world...costs of drugs...lower budgets... the latest problem here is that there are much better cancer drugs that could be used on patients but they are not because of the cost...... in a month or so the whole system will grind to a halt as it becomes overwhelmed by the yearly flu problem... patients in corridors etc... staff run off their feet and having to cope with long hours and reduced facilities....

i would also say that nursing wages here ... are what you might call pitifal and are not considered a living wage..... if you count the overall cost of living here ...despite what anyone may tell you as about the same as in the uk their wages would equate to less than half ... the uk nurses wage...

i dont really want to take away from the point of receiving good care from caring doctors/nurses... its something governments have relied on everywhere in europe.... to cover their own failings in investment ... but to tell you the truth the italian health system is completely and utterly broke and most regional health services have already spent this years budget and are not sure how they are going to pay for things the rest of the year...
the doctors and nurses will cope... as they always do... but dont take it as gospel that it all works well here....

[color=black]Oh dear, think I feel a depression coming on again! [/color]

[color=black]Just a thought for you about drugs for cancer. Do you treat few people at high cost or more people at a lower cost? Had this conversation at work today, in the NHS.[/color]
[color=black][/color]
[color=black]So how much does a Nurse earn in Italy? [/color][color=black][/color]

When I was in London 2 weeks ago, the newspapers reported of a child death after waiting 4 hours at the hospital for a doctor to visit him.
These facts happens.
In italian we has a specific neologism for it: malasanità (bad health system) and tend to consider our system as one of worst in western world.
Well, this is not true.
I think that the national health system is one of the better things we have here in Italy and.... it works, providing ALL the population a FREE service.
It could be just my opinion, but it's supported by statistics.
I find very interesting and surpraising the website of the World Health Organization, where the statistics are reported and it's possible to compare the different countries:
[url]http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb[/url]

my point was not to decry the italian health system.... and despite statistics when attempting to use any health system in any of europe you will always find good and bad.... its just the fact that if you do find yourself in that unfortunate circumstance... a lot will depend on luck

...my point is it is no different here to almost wherever you come from.... people live longer...there are more effective ..but more costly treatments and here like anywhere else it is all straining at the treament end...eg the hospitals...

... as for nurses wages .... i had to use a hospital here... and in a discussion with one of the nurses her take home wage was around e900 per month...admiitedly here they get paid a thirteenth month and i have no idea what level of nurse she was.... but i dont think a student nurse...

... and in abruzzo at least the budget has been spent for this year....

.... as regards free health care for all.... we have to pay for our sons dental visits and i know neighbours who pay for opticians for their children... i know as adults most of us that can afford to in england also pay.... ....

...there is nothing worse about anything here in regards treatment that you could not come up with the same story from the uk.... and i think i made my thoughts clear on that in the first post... i think i also made it clear that the staff in all the hospitals i have ever been or am likely to go ...hopefully less rather than more are not the problem...its just a question of finance and the limitations....

as regards cancer treatments...luckily i do not have to decide...but that decision is brought about by the point of my posting...limited resources and what we are all willing to pay

Adriatica,

[color=black]I don't think anyone in the original posts were categorically saying that healthcare was better in Italy at all, just reporting that they had encountered good care and in some cases better than they had received in England. It was a cheerful outcome for a worrying time for a Mum. [/color]

[color=black]Then you come on wo is me with your story of dead children. A little tactless and not necessary to be so detailed don't you think?[/color]

[color=black]Yes you are right; problems are the same, some good hospitals some bad and everywhere have the problem of lack of money.[/color]

[color=black]A little difficult to compare nurse salaries, as we do not know if she was qualified or for how long etc. Plus I'm not sure if [/color][color=black]Italy[/color][color=black] has NI as well as tax but you are probably right that a nurse in [/color][color=black]Italy[/color][color=black] would earn less than [/color][color=black]UK[/color][color=black] but not sure it's as bad as you say. It would also be relative, I may be wrong but high mortgages are not as common as the [/color][color=black]UK[/color][color=black].[/color]