看病真难啊

情景:乔看到林芝脚上打着石膏,关切地询问。

Joe: Oh my god, what happened to you?

Lin Zhi: You mean this? I know it looks pretty bad, but it's just some bones in my foot.

Joe: Just?That sounds serious.

Lin Zhi: Well, it hurt very badly when it happened, definitely! I was talking to a friend while I was waiting to cross the road, and I put my foot out absentmindedly, and it got run over by the wheel of a car.

Joe: Ouch! Did the car stop?

Lin Zhi: No, he just drove straight on! I don't even know if he noticed, though I was screaming.I wish my friend had got the registration, but he was too busy trying to help me. He flagged down a taxi and took me straight to the hospital.

Joe: To emergency?

Lin Zhi: Yes. We got there, and he propped me up on the chair. I was in so much pain I could not remember my insurance details, so he called my work and got them. I mean, we could have paid with it with a card, I suppose.

Joe: You know, that's always a big shock to me at Chinese hospitals.

Lin Zhi: Having to pay?

Joe: Well, not that so much – though of course in England we don't pay anything, the government covers all the cost. So we don't have any of this faffing about over insurance or payment, we just get into casualty –

Lin Zhi: Casualty?

Joe: That's what we call the emergency room. Anyway, we get into casualty and into treatment as soon as possible. Well, they run triage, of course, when there's lots of people there. Most serious things first. People often come in with relatively minor things, but if you're actually bleeding, they get to you straightaway. But what throws me about the Chinese system is that you have to pay for everything as you go! You know, I went in once with food poisoning, and I even had to take the blood to be tested myself, and pay for it at a separate unit; it was bizarre.

Lin Zhi: I thought that was the way in America too?

Joe: Not usually; rather, they give you a bill for it at the end. Especially with emergencies.It's actually illegal in the US not to give emergency treatment to people, regardless of their ability to pay. So if a homeless guy shows up in a hospital bleeding from a gunshot, they have to treat him.

Lin Zhi: Doesn't that cost the hospital a lot of money?

Joe: Yeah, a lot. The government makes up some of it. I think it'd be better if they just bit the bullet and made it all free at the point of care, like we do. But anyway, you were telling me about your injury? Was it all sorted out?

Lin Zhi: Oh, yes, they got me to a doctor relatively quick. But, you know, there were other people trying to get him to see them, even while he was looking at me! My friend ended up shouting at them.

Joe: Yeah, that's happened to me too. In China, I mean, not elsewhere. You know, you're trying to see the doctor and people keep wanting to get his attention. I wish they had a better screening process; the whole thing seems badly organized to me.

Lin Zhi: Well, it all ended up OK. I mean, I have to keep this thing on – the cast – for a while, and then go back to the hospital to get it removed.

Joe: Did they give you painkillers?

Lin Zhi: When I was at the hospital, yes. But now I just have to buy lots of Fenbid! It's not so bad, it just aches.

Joe: Well, I'm glad it was just your foot!

乔:天啊,你这是怎么了?

林芝:你是指这个?我知道这看上去很糟糕,但,只不过是脚骨折了而已。

乔:而已?听上去很严重。

林芝:嗯,发生车祸那会儿的确很疼!等红绿灯过马路时,我正和朋友聊天,心不在焉地把脚这么一伸,就被车轮压到了。

乔:哎哟!车停下来了吗?

林芝:没有,车主就这么开了过去!我当时大叫,不过不知道他有没有注意到。我希望好友记下车牌号,但他手忙脚乱,只顾着照看我。他拦了辆出租车,带我直奔医院。

乔:去看急诊?

林芝:是呀。我们到了医院,他扶我坐在椅子上。我当时那么疼,根本记不住保险细节,于是他给我公司打了个电话,问清这一切。我是说,我想我们本可以用医保卡支付医疗费的。

乔:你知道的,这在中国的医院总是让我很吃惊。

林芝:付医药费吗?

乔:嗯,也不全是——不过在英国我们自然不用管任何费用,政府会支付所有花销。所以我们不必为保险金或是医疗费而奔波,只需去看急症——

林芝:急症?

乔:也就是你们所说的急诊室。不管怎样,我们去了急诊室后就会很快得到治疗。当然,有很多病人候诊时,就通过治疗类选法来安排就诊顺序,重病优先。通常,来看病的人们只是小病小灾,但如果确实有人在大出血,就会被直接推进诊室。但是让我吃惊的是,中国的医疗制度让病人不得不亲自为事事埋单!你知道吗,有一次我食物中毒,我甚至不得不亲自去验血,再单独付费。这太让人匪夷所思了。……