At the Hospital

Have you ever been to a government-run general hospital to see a doctor?

The average waiting time is about three hours, if you’re lucky.

First, you have to queue to register and before you can get a queue number to see a doctor, you have to pay at the payment counter (unless you are a government pensioner) which opens later than the registration counter. Then having got a number, you sit patiently to wait for your turn, if you can find any empty seats left. That’s one reason to go early!

Most of the people who come to the hospital are accompanied by members of their families and children.
Some are in wheel chairs, some on crutches and even a couple on stretchers. Such is the motley crowd that sit or stand, waiting for their turn. A few have their heads buried in newspapers but the majority will have their eyes glued to the small screen that will flash the queue numbers when the doctors begin their clinics. Some doctors do their ward rounds before their clinics so add another two hours to your waiting time.

The noise level is bearable except when you have babies bawling or small children running about and shouting like all kids do. In the background are sounds coming from the t.v. screen suspended from the ceiling. I wonder if anyone ever watches or listens.

Many people are lost in thought as they ponder over their health, oblivious to the noises around them. What they have in common is the look on their faces, quiet resignation. All know that they have to wait and wait in stoic silence.
If you don’t want to wait then you have to see a private doctor which will cost you a lot more. At the government hospital you only pay a nominal sum and the medication is free. Malaysians are ever so lucky!

After you get your prescription from the doctor you move on to the pharmacy, hand in your prescription and get a queue number. Then you squeeze into a seat among the crowd who are waiting to get their medication. It is quieter here by comparison. Everyone is lost in thought.

Everyone has the same look of resignation, some even have a dazed look, knowing they may have to wait up to at least another hour before their queue numbers are called and flashed on the screen.

As in the other waiting room, here all eyes are also glued to the small screen, willing their numbers to be called sooner than later. Specialist drugs take a longer time to be dispensed so you don’t see the queue numbers going in sequence.

So if you ever go to the hospital, be prepared to spend half a day waiting. It’s just wait, wait and wait. You don’t even dare to go to the toilet, or the canteen ( they are far away), just in case your number is flashed while you are not there. We were there yesterday, from 07:30 and left only at 13:00.