'Waiting time too long to bear'

So last week my seven year old son came back from school with high fever.

As always, we first administer a paracetamol dose and give it some time to react, probably around forty minutes but whenever it reoccurs again then we opt to take him to the nearest health centre.

Health centres are a great opportunity for us but to be honest the reception you get can sometimes trigger your anger leading to lowering your self esteem due to the tension of seeing different patients with different symptoms.

As I took my son to the health centre around 9.30pm, the queues were not as long as during the day. So I was glad that we would get quick medical attention for my son as at this moment he was having a very high fever and very weak that he could not even stand or sit.

I immediately rushed to the triage room. My token was not next but I thought I would just get some emergency help at least to cool down his temperature but to my surprise before I could utter a word, the duty nurse asked me if it was my token. I said no but ...

Before I could utter out “the but,” he ordered me rudely to go sit and wait for my token.

I tried to murmur that he should at least give him something to cool his fever but he again cut my words short and told me to sit and wait.

Honestly, at this point, I lost my temper and asked in an angry tone. “Even in a matter of extreme illness you can’t attend to us even if it is not my token yet?” He still insisted that he has other patients to handle.

I know whoever comes to any hospital has a health issue but let us be realistic. Not every patient’s situation is like the other’s.

Some come for results collection from their lab blood tests, others come for routine check up while others come for minor cases and others are seriously unwell.

The waiting list of the long queues at health centres are frustrating. When someone is sick, the frustration becomes double as one has to endure both pain and then waiting and in some cases triple the pain as suddenly you are told there is a system shutdown and so you have to wait much longer.

To make the story short, around 12.45am after midnight, I was lucky enough that it was my token but prior to seeing the doctor, I was again kept for more than half an hour due to existing patients who came in to show the doctor their ECG findings.

My turn finally arrived but as I entered the doctor's room, he again said he was having a quick meeting with the same duty nurse who had ignored me earlier so I had to sit and wait. Then the moment came when I finally went in again. However, I was told there was a sudden system shutdown and tokens had mixed up.

I was fed up now and decided to lay my complaints to the doctor until he was convinced to take my son in.

As a nation, I believe Oman can do better in terms of health centres. If a vote would be casted, the majority, if not all, would opt for the process to be shortened.

Taking tokens, (which sometimes are offline) then waiting for the long triage room queue and then again waiting for the long queue to see the doctor is exasperating.

I personally am of the view that since it is a health centre where they expect hundreds of patients on a daily basis, then time wasted on the triage over temperature, weight and blood pressure checks can be done right inside the doctor's office.

It would be better if a token leads you directly to the doctor’s room and from there to the pharmacy.

We are very thankful we get medical help but we also believe something better and less frustrating can be planned. Till next ...