General Hospital versus Private

[Mark]

I needed a minor op, which cost a lot less than the excess on my private healthcare.

Went to the General on Tuesday, but waited till after 10.30 am to avoid the early rush!

10 minute wait to register, 5 minutes to se a GP, referred to a surgeon, who I saw today, he introduced himself, shook my hand, operation booked for early October.

Who needs private healthcare, what a brilliant service!

[trevnhil]

That is good service, and I hope the Op goes OK.
Some people use the Private system as there seems to be no hold up at all, ie same day or next day treatment. But yes it cost a fair amount of money depending upon the complaint.

[Mark]

I believe in the UK it can take a while to see a GP, ie more than a week, although not perfect here, I saw a GP in 15 minutes, a surgeon after 48 hours, that is impressive.

[trevnhil]

I help run a group in the UK and you are right there are many complaints about the difficulty getting an appointment to see a doctor there.
And yet here, at least in the private sector, you can go and have a chat with the guy that is doing the operation, (the Surgeon) at almost any time of the day..

[Robert]

I believe in the UK it can take a while to see a GP, ie more than a week, although not perfect here, I saw a GP in 15 minutes, a surgeon after 48 hours, that is impressive.

My UK GP is now a 4 week wait for a booked appointment. You literally could die waiting.

To compensate for this they now have an emergency appointment system where you need to call as soon as they open and a GP will call you back if the receptionist thinks it's serious enough. If it's then considered serious enough by the GP who calls they'll then try and see you that day otherwise you're 4 weeks. I have had to use this 'service' once. They have no phone queuing system so I had to just keep ringing. I stopped counting when I heard the engaged tone 50 times!

My experience of the public health system in the UK now is that it's very much broken.

In comparison while in Cyprus over the summer I had need to get a prescription for some medication. EUR10 to see the doctor with no queue at all. Medication purchased from the local pharmacy for just a few Euro's. Happy days...

[Mark]

Unbelievable Robert, maybe the Cypriot healthcare system is better than the UK?

[Robert]

Unbelievable Robert, maybe the Cypriot healthcare system is better than the UK?

Fortunately I've never had the need to use either system in a true life or death situation. Only then do you really find out which healthcare system is better IMHO. The definition of better being you live to tell the tail in recovered good health.

[trevnhil]

The Cypriot NHS system saved my life when I had a heart attack in 2007.. My wife and I continue to use the General Hospital and the private system

[Robert]

The Cypriot NHS system saved my life when I had a heart attack in 2007.. My wife and I continue to use the General Hospital and the private system

Sounds like a great healthcare system to me.

Out of interest in your private system does that now count as a preexisting condition and so is not covered? I ask because my better half put an application in with Atlantic so that we could estimate all costs before our move to Cyprus and they won't cover a preexisting condition. I'm wondering if I'd have better luck elsewhere.

[smudger]

Having consulted Dr Nicos at the General recently, I was bowled over by the raft of tests he instantly instituted. Having had several of these tests, minor few to go , today was the biggie, well impressed by the tests so far, and superb response here! Many thanks folks x

[Dominic]

What do you base that on, Hudswell?

[JimX]

Do not often agree with Hudswel but for sure he is correct, many medical services are just not available on Cyprus private health cover or not, they just do not have the resources or equipment, what they do offer at the General hospitals is a fast diagnosis of your condition, this you will have to wait at the NHS door for sometime, but anything far more serious or needing long term treatment the locals hospitals cannot offer you this, aftercare is another problem here on the island at the General hospital, since I have lived here I have used both Private and Cy NHS both were excellent but I do know many return to the UK for NHS treatment that may not be available here, small operations are usually no problems at the General the wife recently had one successfully here at the Pafos General, but far more serious problems they just cannot help I'm afraid, they do what they can and you have to applaud their efforts.

I do wish ALL good health, it is all you have in life.

[trevnhil]

The Cypriot NHS system saved my life when I had a heart attack in 2007.. My wife and I continue to use the General Hospital and the private system

Sounds like a great healthcare system to me.

Out of interest in your private system does that now count as a preexisting condition and so is not covered? I ask because my better half put an application in with Atlantic so that we could estimate all costs before our move to Cyprus and they won't cover a preexisting condition. I'm wondering if I'd have better luck elsewhere.

Robert, although we use the Private Health care here, we do not have any insurance cover. We 'Pay as you go'.. So the pre existing condition you mention makes no difference to us..

[garry&jill]

Only yesterday we met up with an old friend of the wife's whose on holiday here who is high up in the N.H.S
and she was saying the amount of people wasting hospital time in A&E with silly little things like a cut finger or bruised arm etc was unbelievable
her daughter who is a paramedic also said some of her call-outs were for some really trivial things, people need to stop wasting doctors and nurses
time garry

[Poppy]

I really do think that the NHS in the UK depends on where in the country you live. I believe most areas now have the phone system first but it works very well in my opinion and to put it into context this is my latest experience. On Monday I slipped on a wet rock going down to the beach. I went down with a bit of a bang but carried on walking the dogs. By Tuesday I was in agony so rang the surgery. A Dr rang me back after an hour and advised me to go to the minor injuries unit at the cottage hospital which is sited by the surgery.I was seen by a nurse who examined me and gave me pain killers and said I needed to see a Dr. I waited half an hour to be seen,was examined and it was declared a bad strain and prescribed pain killers. By Thursday I was in constant agony still and I rang the surgery again. A Dr rang me back in 10 minutes,prescribed a stronger painkiller which I could pick up at my local pharmacy within a couple of hours and advised that if no better by the week end to ring again and she would see me. The pain is much better today and I really cannot fault the service.
In addition the NHS are constantly encouraging you to undertake various cancer screening and are very pro active in this and especially Diabetes which my husband has. ( Diabetes care was very hit and miss in Cyprus) Having said that the cancer care my husband received from Nicosia was excellent. Finally I must say that this little local Hospital just a mile from where I live was smart and scrupulously clean very different from Paphos I have to say(Nicosia was fine)

[trevnhil]

As you say... It depends where you live. I know plenty in the Lancaster and Morecambe area who struggle to get any appointment.. You are more fortune in getting to see someone.
I hope that your injury mends soon

[Royal]

The only experience I have had of the General's A&E was very good.

However, I have visited a couple of friends at various times who have been admitted into the General for surgery and from what I saw the medical attention by doctors and consultants was excellent but the nursing attention was quite appalling.

[Poppy]

I've had little experience of the nurses at Paphos General but the nursing staff at the Oncology unit at Nicosia General were great. They were mainly quite young but had the caring attitude that you would expect.They were helped by patients visitors who often stayed the night but the majority of the patients were Cypriot there ans I think some of the relatives found it strange because I only visited for a couple of hours to get back to the dogs!! Our only concern there was that they allowed patients and visitors to smoke in the balcony outside the ward - often linked up to their chemo!! My husband complained as the smoke was constantly in the ward but the head of Oncology admitted they could not stop them!!

[Mark]

The Cypriot NHS system saved my life when I had a heart attack in 2007.. My wife and I continue to use the General Hospital and the private system

Sounds like a great healthcare system to me.

Out of interest in your private system does that now count as a preexisting condition and so is not covered? I ask because my better half put an application in with Atlantic so that we could estimate all costs before our move to Cyprus and they won't cover a preexisting condition. I'm wondering if I'd have better luck elsewhere.

Sorry Robert

I am not aware of any healthcare provider who will cover pre-existing issues.

We are with Pitsas insurance, which is opposite Debenhams, very good value.

We took an 800 euro excess, which really brought down the cost, plus we get an annual medical FOC and life cover.

Other providers were much more expensive.........good luck with your search!

[Alewfin]

....especially Diabetes which my husband has. ( Diabetes care was very hit and miss in Cyprus) Having said that the cancer care my husband received from Nicosia was excellent.

Totally disagree with you on Diabetes care in Cyprus.

I have found it far superior to what I experienced in the UK.

I believe the key difference is that in Cyprus the GP doctors are based in the hospitals and therefore have the facilities on hand to do a greater number of health checks. When I first arrived the doctor sent me down various corridors to have my bloods done, then an ECG, a chest X-ray, a CT scan and various cardiac tests before he was prepared to discuss, at length (about 45 minutes), my health and future treatment. Since then, in addition to the regular blood tests I have had stress tests, x-rays, ECGs and urine tests.

This is in total contrast to my experience in the UK where the doctor gave me all of 8 minutes and never showed me my blood results which included in his words 'slightly raised levels in your liver but nothing to worry about'. The results of my tests at the General showed that I had gallstones and off I was sent to see the surgeon who said that these must come out, especially as you are Diabetic. He then said when do you want to have the operation, name a date !

I am fortunate that I am able to make use of both the Cyprus state hospitals and the private hospitals. From what my children in the UK have told me about their experiences of the NHS and in particular doctors surgeries is that it is even worse than before.