Need a doctor but it is Bayram!

[Rubyroo]

My husband has been feeling a bit odd over the week-end and I have persuaded him to see a doctor asap forgetting it is Bayram.

I phoned the Kolan hospital but the clinic is closed until Thursday! where else can we go to get him checked before then? does anyone have a suggestion please, thanks.

[tomsteel]

State hospital nearest to you.

[Rubyroo]

Thanks Tom. We shall go and check him out there then.

[Marions]

What has gone wrong with the Kolan/VIP. I thought that was a 24/7 availability.

Howeve,r I must admit I am drawn to the State hospital as it IS always open and costs less! (My husband's pension is like a piece of overstretched elastic and one has to be careful of medical expenditure.).

It is comforting to know that the specialists in the state hospital also have private clinics, but that you can see them at the State hospital for a lot less money.

Hope your husband is O.K and that maybe it is a touchof too much heat. But it is worrying when you cannot get the medical help you want.

I believe that the Kaminoglu (is that how you spell it) hospital in Kyrenia operates a 24/7 service and boasts of a GP type service.

[tomsteel]

Please send feedback on the service he/you received there. Diagnosis, not required, just the reception service/treatment plan.

[come_on_aylin]

Definitely state hospital. We were in a similar situation at Bayram a few years ago - went to a private hospital and told that it would take some time to get a doctor to come out, they recommended the state hospital. Went there, seen, diagnosed, emergency medication administered and straight in an ambulance to Lefkosa within 15 minutes. We followed but couldn't keep up - by time we got there the patient was being seen by a specialist and all necessary tests were under way. The patient had suffered a stroke, spent 9 days in Lefkosa hospital which was very quiet due to Bayram and has had no lasting effects. Couldn't fault them.

[Owl Lady]

As Marion said, so much for the 24/7 promised by VIP. Before the merge with Kolan!!! Can Chris Oford throw any light on this situation?

[Philoz]

Owl lady-I agree,I signed up with VIP Med based the the promise of 24/7 care and a 'British Style' Doctors surgery(Not that you get 24/7 Doc's in the UK!)-Fortunately,touchwood, I have not needed their services,but it does sound like it has become just another Doctors.

[Owl Lady]

Before I signed up for (VIP) the doctor I used to see, but left for reasons I won't go into on to here, would at least come out in an emergency, for a fee of course!!

[waddo]

I have had no problems withe the Kolan hospital but that is in Lefcosia not the outpatients dep department in Girne!

[Marions]

The Kyrneia branch is new, and is NOT a copy of the Lefkosia one. I have not had any probs with Lefkosia - been there for hubby for a coule of things. And of ocurse VIP med have moved there and technically do not exist any longer.

I am fortunate that I am 'rudely' fit so don't need a doctor, but Alan is my biggest worry, but so far no emergencie,s just bits to be cut out and blood to be thinned (sounds horrible but not too bad). He did get help a coup0le of times form, VIP but otherwise went direct to the surgeon to have a nasty bump removed.

Plus I do not knolw if automatically all those who registered with VIP med are still on the books.l Does anyone know>

I am just so grateful that I am (so far) fit and well, but emergency would see me going to the state hospital.

[Owl Lady]

Fail now to see the point in registering with the VIP, So now do we have to call 112 and try to give instructions to the operator as to where we live. That was the point that VIP promised address would be on Satnav or similar.

[Marions]

I just looked up their web page where it states ' a 24 hour GP service to all our patients' and I am wondering whether there may have been a misunderstanding on the phone.but I guess the words 'closed until ?Thursday' leave no room for misunderstanding. I assume their Lefkosia Hopsitla wa s open, but I do not know if it has an A & E department.

It does seem disappointing. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rubyroo]

Well we never got to Girne hospital! my husband seems to have suddenly perked up again I am very relieved to say. Whether the heat has just been too much the past few days for him but I shall be keeping a beady eye on him and at the first sign of any feebleness we will go to the hospital asap.

Thank you for all the advice you have given. It does sound as if the state hospital is the route to go down too if we feel it necessary. I have been disappointed by VIP Med/Kolan British Hospital. The web site is pretty poor and it is not obvious how to contact them either.

Marion fingers crossed they get their act in gear again once Bayram is over as the lady I spoke to definitely said clinic closed until Thursday.

[Marions]

Hey Rubyroo the most important thing in this posting has just been said. Your husband has perked up! That is great. Let's hop-e it was the heat and nothing else. I for one thank youfor posting this, as my husband and I were discussing it today, and we definitely feel that the state system here is good. No 5 star hotel stuff, but what the heck, I just would want to get better!

As to the Kolan, maybe they had staff problems, but that is something they need to sort . We public can be very fickle, and it is 'once bitten twice shy'. At least we know the State hospital is always there, which is a comfort. I think things have improved os much here over the last decade, that manyof the fears that people had before that, have gone away. Not all of them for some people, but certainly a lot for many of us.

But REALLY glad to hear your husband is O.K. Enjoy the restof the holiday! Or ring 112!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nurseawful]

Just to clear up a point there is a 24 hour emergency service in place at Kolan/VIP over the Bayram. So in an EMERGENCY there is a Dr available. Dr Turk is on duty today (Tuesday).

Chris

[Owl Lady]

Thanks for replying Chris.

[stellasstar1]

As Marion said earlier, if we registered with VIP at the old address have we automatically been moved to the new Kolan address in Girne, or do we re-register (I know this is off thread now, but lots of us are wondering) Glad to hear your husband is better rubyroo.

[Owl Lady]

I believe all record have remained the same, and passed to Kolan

[Marions]

Sometimes, dear Owl Lady, believing is not enough. Maybe Nurse Awful can tell us for sure!? Please.

[nurseawful]

If you were registered with VIP yes your records are now at Kolan, as Owl Lady said. The only additional information they need is your mother and fathers first names, all else is the same.

There is a cardiologist there most days, a psychologist, and a pediatrician. Twice a week there is a dermatologist and there will be other specialist added in the near future to give you a better service.

Chris

[Rubyroo]

Hey Rubyroo the most important thing in this posting has just been said. Your husband has perked up! That is great.

Thanks Marion, very kind of you to say so.

Chris, thank you too for clearing up the confusion.

Cheers, it's time to chill!

[Sonali]

I have been poorly since Friday with a stomach bug, hoping it would clear up, no such luck, work up this morning feeling dehydrated and wobbly, we drove into the Kolan in Girne and saw Doctor Turk , who as always was so helpful, two sachets of magic liquid pumped in and a prescription for antibiotics and hopefully the corner will be turned

I do not know the answers to many of the questions posed here but the surgery is light and airy and well presented, as always we were well looked after by Doctor Turk.
Car parking was no problem on the waste ground opposite but if full you could always drop the patient of and take the turning beside the Kolan down to the Rocks car park

Thank you doctor Turk , we wish you and the staff at the Kolan success in your new surgery

[henry_vox]

I have used Dr Turk for 6 months now and found him and vip med to be great. I havenseen the pediatrician at the new kolan with bith my babies and find her to be a very friendly and warm doctor who really cares about the children she sees.

[journey1]

I do not think it is about the quality of the doctors or the service provided. It is about access. We all of us Brits so welcomed a service of almost like a GP health centre to be at our doorstep in TRNC. So maybe we should all ask Kolan if they can provide something similar, with ease of access. Indeed, we just want a secure trustworthy health service that we understand and one that understands us being here on an island outwith our usual understanding of healthcare. Probably most of us recognise we have to pay as we go but that is one of the areas we all take into consideration when we choose to live away from our mother country.
So firstly to the original poster, thanks be that your husband is recovered.
But, secondly, please Kolan or the equivalent , can you give us a clear indication what you can offer us non Cypriots ( no idea how to avoid any racist mistake) a plan of health care that is both reasonable and efficient for our needs ?
Maybe I should have put this on a new thread? sorry!
Thoughts not stones please
cheers

[Owl Lady]

IMO start a new thread,it will get lost on the original