Despite a delicate medical history, a clinic in Lower Austria referred a patient with acute pain in writing to external diagnostic centers. Even though it was midnight, the device was probably free. The pensioner from the Weinviertel was examined, but despite a history that included emergency surgery for a biliary rupture, it was said that for more detailed tests “a team from Vienna would have to come first”.
The bile has burst, the abdominal cavity is already heavily poisoned: Karl Sch. can still remember the emergency operation in which he narrowly avoided death from blood poisoning almost five years ago. After the ambulance from the Mistelbach State Hospital was turned away three times, emergency surgery saved his life.
See you in the operating hospital – the care was okay, but CT was taboo
The 77-year-old was returned to the clinic at midnight with acute, severe abdominal pain – and was treated only with painkillers. Weinviertler’s discharge report angered him: it explicitly pointed out that more precise diagnoses would be needed, such as a check in a computer tomograph.
“A CT scan would certainly have been done that night in a short time in the well-equipped specialized hospital,” the man said angrily. “It is known that there are enormous waiting times in the residential area in the Weinviertel – but I was refused a check at the hospital,” says Sch. further.
LGA: No immediate danger, blood checked
The state health agency LGA calmly comments on the issue: laboratory tests have shown no danger. Medical decisions would then have been made by specialized doctors – thus standard rates avoid a problem that is currently being intensively discussed: there are too few established institutions in the Weinviertel with a health insurance contract, the waiting times are several weeks, as SPÖ councilor Melanie Erasim stated in a parliamentary question has discussed.
The incident also reinforces the statements of Bernhard Wurzer, general manager of the health insurance fund: there is no increase in the use of hospital tomographers, while the number of checks in radiology practices is constantly increasing. However, hospitals also refer patients with pain to institutions with extremely long waiting times.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
