Could this really be happening to us? Bad day!

oompah18 · Post by **oompah18** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:49 pm

Ds2 aged 2 had a cold that was getting worse & thought he may even have pneumonia. With no regular doc in village Neuvola, I took all 3 kids (2, 3 & 4 mths & NO double buggy!) on the bus which stops by the main hospital. To my shock, the doctors refused to see my suffering lil one because we live 3 km outside the city boundary. They told us to go to a smaller health centre 25km in the opposite direction, which was the main one for the district we live in. There are no buses to this one from where I live, & a 5km walk from the nearest bustop from anywhere anyway. (stupid eh!) I told them I couldn´t as there was no transport there from my village, & they told me to just leave the hospital. My usually happy, active boy was looking terrible & really sweaty & silent in the buggy, while I had baby in my kantoliina who wanted breastfeeding & I held the hand of a busy 3 yr old who wanted a playpark NOW!. I was so stressed I burst into tears & we went home on the next bus. I finally found a neighbour to take us to the official health centre for my district, where they diagnosed pneumonia & said he should really be in the main hospital for treatment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am outraged that the main city hospital could refuse to treat such a sick boy. No idea how we can get our kids to medical services in an emergency except by using taxi or ambulance then. I hope no one else experiences anything like this. End of rant. I won´t be going to TAYS in Tampere for a while if I can help it. Yours angrily, Allie

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miti · Post by **miti** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:19 pm

so sorry to hear that. One of the most justified rants I have seen here lately. Hope the little one is doing better in the meanwhile. I think the attitude you received at the hospital is outrageous. Did you consider submitting a complaint? I don't want to think what would happen if due to the delay in the treatment and all the extra travelling your boy's condition would have gotten much worse.

Hope such a thing will never happen to you (or to anyone else for that matter) again!

karen · Post by **karen** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:29 pm

Wow! That's amazing that they would turn you away. I hope you can find a place to file a complaint.

Amandine.K · Post by **Amandine.K** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:33 pm

Shocking!!!

Do write an official complaint!

I hope your little boy will get better very soon. I can't believe that they sent you out!

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:36 pm

Yes, you really MUST complain.

When one of my boys was very sick at home I called an ambulance. It isn't free, but then niether is the bus. I always think a mum knows best.... I hate the attitude of doctors like that. It stinks. Did you actually see a doctor at the hospital or was it some administrator....?

I hope your child gets better quickly.

We had a similar episode when my son had an accident and hurt his eye at school. He is in school in Helsinki. The school put him in a taxi and sent him back to Espoo (Jorv hospital) - they couldn't get hold of me (I was teaching) and my husband was in a meeting. Anyway.... when he got to Jorv they told him they didn't have an eye doctor and he would have to go to HYKS - Helsinki.... poor kid, he was in so much pain. It was about 4h before he actually got to see a doctor. When we shouted at the school nurse she said she was not allowed to send an Espoo child to a hospital in Helsinki. AAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

enk · Post by **enk** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:39 am

Lodge a complaint by all means.

While I'm not a kid, I was to be sent passing in and out of consciousness
due to not being able to breath from Marian sairaala (which was closest to
where I was at the time) to Jorvi because "I don't live in Helsinki". My
mother, who doesn't speak Finnish and works in an emergency room in
the States, was appalled. Fortunately she raised a major stink and they
decided that maybe it would be a good idea to look at me after all

I abhor that stupid rule and I hope your kid gets better and gets proper
treatment. A little late to say it now, but TAYS sucks IMO the worst
of any hospital in this country.

-enk

oompah18 · Post by **oompah18** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:58 pm

Wow, thanks for all the support, I have calmed down now! it appears that I am not alone in this situation.. (I texted a few mums in my village & they had not dissimilar experiences or knew someone who had!) My Finnish hubby was not surprised either & doesn´t think complaining to them will make any difference. The smaller health centre were actually very understanding & told me that I should call an ambulance to come to them, & it is never more than 15 euros, KELÄ pays the rest! They even gave me free antibiotics for 3 days because I said I had no money to get a prescription for the medicine till KELÄ lapsilisa payday on 26th.

Anyway, lil boy is much better tonight, after 24 hrs of antibiotics & ventalin, & staying inside. He didn´t nap at all, just lay lethargically on sofa much of the day, browsing his beloved Thomas the Tank Engine books & mags, bless him! Now I have another thought, I often stay home alone with the 3 tots, now if I had to call an ambulance for 1 of them, of course I have to take them ALL with me, I suspect there isn´t a lot of room for car seats in an ambulance.......................

I shall pass my story round as many people as I can in the village this week (my Finnish will pass, just about!!!) & see what others say.....
Thanks all for your support
Allie

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:42 am

You should try and contact the Mannerheim League in your area and ask them if they have an emergency babysitting service (they probably do) which could help you out. The Mannerheim League has an excellent reputation and exists specifically to help young mothers and children.

http://www.mll.fi/in_english/

mossman · Post by **mossman** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:24 pm

Your experience apalls me, sounds like a severe case of Finnish "more than my jobsworth" which needs a severe and robust shaking up, there are a few things in my life that make my blood boil more than pompous officialdom overuling plain commonsense, personally I have nothing but praise for all my treatment here in finland but to treat any mother and sick child in such away is indefenseable.
I hope your experience will get as much air as possible and don't believe the ordinary man/woman in this country would allow the situation to remain so inhumane.
Wishing littlun a speedy recovery
Mossy

Deman · Post by **Deman** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:46 pm

Screw the complaint. I would see a lawyer and seriously consider legal action.

N-E-G-L-I-G-E-N-C-E

mel · Post by **mel** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:35 pm

I am a bit late but I am sorry as well to read that. It is indeed the sad part (one of..) here in finland, you mustgo to the hospital which belongs to the area of the city u live in! In our case it is also ridiculous, we have to drive 30 to 45mn to get to the hospital while there is one just 10mn far from us! U can only go to whatever hospital to deliver but not in case of sickness or accident.

I recommend that u get an insurance so that u could go to the private doctor...any of your choice...

I hope things get better for you and your family.

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oompah18 · Post by **oompah18** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:28 pm

Thanks everyone! Martti is now recovering thanks to antibiotics & ventaline! Mel seems to be right, that is what happens in Finland. My husband won´t hear of paying out for health insurance, but HE has it from his workplace but it doesn´t cover family. Anyone know of any links to webpages where I can check out info for Finnish medical insurance? When I worked in the Middle East & Switzerland I used BUPA, but now I am a lowly unpaid housewife.............financially challenged, shall we say....

EP · Post by EP » Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:44 pm

you mustgo to the hospital which belongs to the area of the city u live in!

Not necessarily. I have had an opposite experience. My son had his tonsils removed in Meilahti. I don´t remember why it was done there, we live near Jorvi. Anyway, something went wrong, and at night he started to bleed extensively. I woke up, and his room and the bathroom looked like a slaughter house. I threw him to the car and rushed to Jorvi (which is ten minutes away). Nope. The operation was done in Meilahti, so we should go there. My pleading was in vane, and so I had to drive him to Helsinki. It was morning rush hour, and the trip took almost an hour.

About the insurance: I took it for the above mentioned kid when it started to look like that he is so accident prone that I can congratulate myself and thank all the religions and gods of this world if he ever manages to become an adult. It was from Pohjola, like all my insurances are. But check also what Tapiola and If have. Ordinary insurance companies that insure just about everything.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 4:03 pm

Yup, Pohjola has one, "hoitokuluvakuutus". I'd get one for about 107e /year. So its not astrological prices... you can get one for an unborn child as well. There is then the "small print" of what and what not the insurance covers, as rehabilitation is not covered, nor neuropsychological stuff say speech therapy is not covered unless it is for a child whom the insurance has been taken at birth etc.

oompah18 · Post by **oompah18** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:07 am

Great, thanks Hank,will deffo look into that, what with 3 boys......! (I have had pneumonia 3 times myself, but never in Finland!)

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