Pages

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I'm in the tabloids!

Listen up people! In the world of the public health system - there are strict rules.


The first rule is this: There shall be a gross understaffing of all units, and a severe lack of working equipment.

The second rule is this: This means that to receive the free health care you want, you will have to wait.

The third rule: Being brought in the ambulance, or arriving before another patient, does not mean that you will be seen first. There is a triage system - stabbed chests, heart attacks and the likes get seen before chronic back pain and boils on your bum.

If you do not like this, please go and visit the GP down the street who will take your money and send you back here for an x-ray anyway.

No matter how many times I have to explain this, you still don't get it do you?

Maybe I should say it in Afrikaans.

Die dag hospitaal is 'n wag hospitaal!


What's that, oh you don't like this system? Why don't you put some effort into your complaint and write a letter to the government? Oh wait ,the clever previous Government, they didn't prioritise education for those living on the flats, so you can't write!

What did you say? My mother's what?

Oh and now you're threatening to sue me and put me in the tabloids? Which one, may I ask?

The "Daily Voice", is that right?

Come on man, don't be cheap, I'm worth more than that, put me in the Cape Times!


My poor patients, frustrated up to their eyeballs by the long waits they have to endure, have this one recourse - to threaten those of us actually working in the system with a call to the tabloid to "expose" us. The "Daily Voice" is a very popular community tabloid. Some buy it for the "information" it contains, some for the page three girl. Either way, it costs somewhere in the region of R2. Which means that it is cheaper than toilet paper.

6 comments:

Ketan said...

Hi Dr. S!

Hilarious!

That instruction up there--in Afrikaans--what does it mean? Just curious! Well, my guess had something to do with dog and its tail, am I way off mark? Is Afrikaans the official language of South Africa?

And to get into tabloids is just an unfulfilled fantasy, or you actually could get onto one? Working towards it?

It's in this post, for instance, I felt, you wanted to say a lot about the state of governance in your country, and the nature of patients and lack of ethics in the private practice--maybe.

How many weeks more? ;)

Well written. Do send a link of the tabloid when you appear in one. And I've complete faith in you that when you appear, you'll absolutely not require any fashion advice from me!

TC.

Ketan said...

Hi Dr. S!

Hilarious!

That instruction up there--in Afrikaans--what does it mean? Just curious! Well, my guess had something to do with dog and its tail, am I way off mark? Is Afrikaans the official language of South Africa?

And to get into tabloids is just an unfulfilled fantasy, or you actually could get onto one? Working towards it?

It's in this post, for instance, I felt, you wanted to say a lot about the state of governance in your country, and the nature of patients and lack of ethics in the private practice--maybe.

How many weeks more? ;)

Well written. Do send a link of the tabloid when you appear in one. And I've complete faith in you that when you appear, you'll absolutely not require any fashion advice from me!

TC.

Ketan said...

And yes, have you told your patients about your blog? I'm sure if you tell them, there'll be marked shift in their attitude towards public health system and probably even towards you! ;)

One request--do you mind making the comments' form show as a separate page in your preferences as that'd allow me to subscribe to the comments?

And, do you also know French?

TC.

Dr S. said...

South Africa has ELEVEN official languages. I speak English, Afrikaans ( very widely spoken) and I also studied Xhosa at school and throughout medical school. In Cape Town a lot of the patients are from the Xhosa tribe and culture so I chose Xhosa as I knew I would be able to communicate with them better. There are also other tribe's languages that I could have learned - Sotho, Zulu, Tswana etc....

But learning eleven is a bit much.

I grew up speaking English, and was taught in English.

The translation is as follows:

The day hospital is a "wait" hospital.

Except that in Afrikaans the words for day and wait sound the same - "dag" and "wag". And you say the "g" gutterally, and with friction. Kind of like the noise the static on the tv makes.


I have no idea how to ensure that you subscribe to the comments feed. I'm going to try out what you say. Let me know if it works! I'm a technological moron!

Ketan said...

11 official languages--well, that's awesome! India has only one official language--Hindi, but of the official circulars and gazettes are issued in English as well. Let's say, around 25 percent population must not be knowing the national language!

But each state has its own state language and that way, there are 18 official languages (maybe, 3 more without official scripts were recently added to the list). Last I'd read, India had 858 languages and over 5000 dialects! But I know just three Indian languages and English. :( Just a bit of trivia as you were planning to visit India! Which makes me curious--have you tried your hand at poetry (the last sentence had rhyming in it)?

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails