BNH Hospital (1)
Private Hospital, Thailand

My experience at BNH has been really weird, terrifying, and upsetting. I chose them because of several people who recommended a
particular surgeon. I did not choose the hospital itself and did not know what the costs would be like before I went there. I was told
by doctors that I should pick a surgeon rather than a hospital. The first appointment was scheduled for 5:40pm and we waited
almost an hour to see the doctor. I was in a great deal of pain and sitting in a chair was the most awful thing for me. My spine
condition means that I have horrible nerve pain in my right leg; shooting pain and pins and needles 24 hours a day. After meeting
the surgeon, he immediately recommended the surgery I was expecting, I had been seeing a physiotherapist and had met with plenty of
doctors I had been diagnosed several times, so I knew what to expect. He scheduled me in for the day after our first appointment for a
discectomy. I thought it was really fast but I would have done anything to end my suffering and he had come highly recommended.
I was told to come in at 8am the next day for pre-surgery tests. I asked what time my surgery would be and the nurses didn’t
know. I had no idea at the time that I was to be at the hospital from 8am till close to 8pm when my surgery was scheduled. The
problem was that no one told me anything. I did my 8am tests, then I was told to have breakfast. After that, nothing. No instructions
just told to wait. I would sit around for a few hours then someone would take me to the cardiac ward for more tests, I would sit in that
waiting room for an hour and finally a nurse did an EKG, then more waiting, then a doctor saw me and talked about my blood pressure. But
then I was sent back to the waiting room for another 45 minutes or so without instructions. After that, a nurse came and tried to force
me into a wheelchair, it took several minutes of charades (few of the nurses speak English) to convince them to let me walk because -
despite me telling people again and again and again - I could not sit in a chair. The whole day was just me trying to find flat
surfaces to lay horizontally on in a world of uncomfortable chair filled waiting rooms. At one point I just gave up caring and laid flat
on the floor in the middle of the hospital. I never knew where I was supposed to be or where I would be going next. It was
confusing and upsetting. No one could answer my questions, everyone looked confused when I asked them where I should go. Finally,
in the late afternoon, someone took me to my room. I was told that I would be picked up at 6:30 for surgery at 7pm. I was told that by
several people. At 5:40pm, there was a knock at my door and a nurse rushed and said: “let’s go”. Outside was a gurney. It
was almost an hour early, but I got on and they pushed me far away to a surgery ward. There were dozens of sick, crying people all
around me on beds. I could hear babies screaming. I was left in this ward, surrounded by people with no word from anyone about what was
happening. A nurse silently hooked me up to a heart monitor and blood pressure machine then just left me after taking all of my clothes.
Naked, confused, alone, scared, and in complete agony. The old lady next to me was too weak to yell, so she quietly cried and
begged for a nurse for a long time, till I finally yelled out for her. Eventually, a woman came to me who was my anesthesiologist. I
told her I could not lay there like that, I was in agony, I needed to get up and move around and change positions, my leg was throbbing
and I could not move on the tiny gurney, made of plastic, sweat sticking my naked body to the tiny bed. I kept asking why I was
brought down so early, why was I on that gurney for so long. The anesthesiologist told me I should be fine after the pills she had
prescribed earlier, I tried to tell her that I have a very high drug tolerance. She gave me a shot of something intravenously. It
didn’t help. She left me alone again. I was staring at the clock, nearly 2 hours had passed my pain was incredible. I cried and
screamed, a nurse gave me more intravenous drugs, they didn't help. Finally, the anesthesiologist came back and gave me one more syringe
of drugs and I passed out, it was about a quarter to 8pm. The worst day of my life. The next 3 days in the hospital were awful.
Nurses would come in at midnight or 1am, and wake me up by turning on every single light in my room to take my blood pressure. There
were several smaller, more gentle lights, but they would insist on turning on the big fluorescents without warning, burning my tired
eyes. There was no bedside manner. They would move my table with my computer, water, and remote away from the bed and I would
not be able to reach it after they left. Only a couple of them spoke English, sometimes 6 or 7 trainee nurses would come in and
awkwardly stare at me. 4 times a day a nurse would insist on giving me a sponge bath in the bed. I kept refusing, content to wash myself
with baby wipes till day 2 when I would be allowed to have a real shower. They didn't communicate with each other so after explaining
this, another nurse would come in an hour later and try to bathe me because she could see on my chart that I had not had my sponge bath,
meaning I had to go through the refusal all over again. In the 3 days that I was in the hospital, I never saw my surgeon. He
never checked on me. It was really strange. Another doctor who I had never met before came to see me, at one point he asked why I was
not wearing my back brace, I told him that I didn’t have one. he told me he would get me one, but then he never did. I asked a nurse
about it, but she didn’t understand. On the 3rd day, I was more than ready to leave. I was able to shower alone at this point
and while in the bathroom, the phone kept ringing. I finally answered and a man started talking rapidly about paying the remainder of my
bill, I told him I was in the shower and asked if we could discuss the bill when I was ready to leave. I then got out of the shower and
put a towel around me, as I was leaving the bathroom, suddenly a strange man was pushing open the door to my room and pushing his way
in, thrusting a big bill folder in my face. I was so taken aback, I took the bill and asked him to please leave. He said “Call the
nurse when you are ready to pay.” At this point, I was so depressed and miserable, I really wanted to get out of there. I
packed quickly and got ready, I then called the nurse and asked to pay the bill. I waited 20 minutes then called again. Then waited
another 20 minutes and called a third time. They made me wait one more hour just to pay the bill. This hospital is a disaster.
The experience was overall very negative. But the story does not end there. I was scheduled to return a week later for a
checkup. I showed up for my appointment ten minutes early for my 11am appointment. I then sat there one of those painful chairs for, you
guessed it, a full hour. At noon, I got up and walked out. on my way out, I sent a quick email to the hospital telling them that I left
after waiting an hour because I had another appointment. That evening, a girl from the hospital called me and apologized, I told her
than it took me an hour in a taxi to get to the hospital and then an hour of sitting outside an office was too much for me. I was in
pain and I would not go through that again. I told her I would reschedule the appointment when I felt okay about going there again.
The next day, July 23rd, I was angry, I wrote an email to the hospital giving them my feedback. Basically a very short version
of what I have written above. I received no answer. I wrote to them again on 27th requesting a reply to my concerns. No answer. I wrote
to them again on July 31st, completely incredulous asking if they were really just planning to ignore me. No answer. I called them. When
I gave them my name, they put me on hold, then they hung up on me. Finally, I used the chat function on their website. I asked
them why I was not getting responses and let them know that I had a lawyer. Magically, they responded via email the next day profusely
apologizing for the “miscommunication” they made up a lie about an “internal communications error” in the email forwarding. They
told me how worried they were about my health and begged me to come back to the hospital. I agreed to meet with them and see the
doctor only if I could also speak with someone high up in hospital management. They agreed and a meeting was set. During the meeting, I
was put in a small room with Patient Safety Coordinator Sumontip Samipak, another girl who I believe was Filipino patient communications
person, and the Assistant Hospital Director. During the meeting, went over all of the things that had gone wrong and I explained
that I didn’t want to be at the hospital, I asked them.what they thought the purpose of me being there was, they didn't really know. I
let them know that I was cut off by them for a month and that I am still in serious pain, that I don't believe the surgery has worked. I
am still on a ton of pain killers, I am seeing a physiotherapist, I have already had to find a new doctor and a new hospital to treat me
because they refused to see their patient after doing spinal surgery and taking 350,000 Baht in cash from me. There was a lot of
apologizing with words, but no real substance, no explanation, they told me that I have helped them “learn how they can do better in
the future”. The fact that I had been suffering alone in a new city for a month, didn't really seem to mean anything. Finally, I asked
them to tell me the truth, who was deleting my emails? Why did they cut me off? That’s when the girl next to shamefully said “It was
me”. I was horrified. I looked at her and asked if she knew how scary it was being in a new city, having spinal surgery then being
completely alone without being able to see your doctors. She started apologizing, but I could not listen, I was disgusted. I was crying.
I just got up and walked out. I just want to let everyone know how awful this place is. How much they only care about getting
your money as quickly as possible and getting rid of you. I guess they thought I was a tourist, that I would leave and they wouldn't
have to deal with me. Stay away from BNH Bangkok Nursing Hospital. It is just a money factory.
 

Reviewer: Username: Bee Age: 35-44 Location: Bangkok Gender: female Operation or treatment: Discectomy

Ratings: Outcome of treatment: Quality of care: Value for money: Patient Communication: Hospital/clinic environment:

 
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