Wednesday, August 01, 2007

A better view of Chinese hospitals

I should add something to the previous post.

Last night I went to visit my friend who has now had his appendix successfully removed (and stitched up with what looks like shipping rope). He was in the new wing of the hospital in a very spacious room which would have looked pretty impressive in the UK. The corridors were wide, light and clean and the air was well air conditioned without being cold. It felt efficient and comfortable and the patients all looked to be as happy as one can be having just come through surgery.

It seems that the emergency room I saw on Sunday, which is still housed in a very old, badly kept building, really is the worst that you are likely to see and so my first real view of a Chinese hospital was probably a warped one. That said it was still in a terrible state and the fact that it's not the norm doesn't make it, on its own, any better. I'm told that this building will soon be replaced by a new one.

I'm also told by my friend from Sichuan that this is much worse than any hospital she has ever seen in her home province.

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