Being seriously sick is frightening enough, but being sick in a foreign country where you don’t quite speak the language is really its own kind of hell… or at least you would think so.
I fell ill a week and a half ago (no you may not ask of what). I have seen over 7 different doctors, have purchased 13 different kinds of medication, have been to the hospital 4 times, had surgery, and stayed in the hospital for over 24 hours with the option of staying even longer if I wanted to. A few years ago, a friend of mine needed the same surgery. He lives in the United States. His surgery was out-patient surgery. The cut him and then kicked him out. My doctors were like, Stay for as long as you like. Literally, that’s what they told me.
I do not have private health insurance. I have the Austrian universal health care. And guess what, the system works. I have been extremely well cared for. I am already on my way to a good recovery.
Please take note: this entire experience has cost me personally less than €100.
Even though I did not always understand what the doctors were saying to me, which is scary, I have found that after this experience, I would much rather get sick in Austria than in the United States.
Hope you are feeling a lot better now. I agree, the Austrian health care system is great. My partner has had various problems over the last 2 years due to a broken vertebra which was missed on an X-ray and was then not treated (this was in the UK). After a few months here, he decided to consult the doctor in our village about it and we were amazed by the treatment he received and the fact he was sent immediately to the hospital. Fabulous system. The doctors were excellent and he is now receiving top class physiotherapy (at no cost to us).
I had a problem in the UK with a broken bone in my foot and it was not spotted – in fact I wasn’t even offered an X-ray for 3 months, by which time it was healed. A friend of mine in the Tirol broke the same bone a few months after I did and she was sent to hospital, had an operation and was home the next day.
I could go on – I have a friend who is a doctor here and he was telling me various horror stories about people who have moved here from the UK who have not had conditions treated properly.
Hi Emily,
That’s scary about the UK. Since I am going to London in November, glad that I got sick now =)
Hi Britta – I hope you’re feeling better!
Emily, I’m really sorry to hear you didn’t get the treatment you deserved in the UK and whilst I am sure that other people have also had bad experiences, my family have only ever received excellent care. By contrast my partner underwent surgery in Austria this summer which he has since been advised by doctors in both the UK and US was entirely unnecessary, since the problem lay somewhere else entirely. I have also spent days running around Vienna trying to find a doctor who would perform a very simple procedure (something carried out by a nurse in the UK) only to be repeatedly told that I would need to see a specialist, requiring a wait of at least 2 weeks.
My experience of the Austrian healthcare system has, on the whole, been positive, as was my experience of the UK system. Wherever you are there will be good doctors and bad doctors, you’ve just got to hope that you find a good doctor if you ever get sick!
Hi Hannah. Good comments. Food for thought.
no kidding. glad you’re better.
Thanks Carolyn