Risky Business

Being ill in Guinea, or any country in West Africa, is a risky business.

Your chance of recovery depends on, not just how severe the accident or illness is, but on numerous other factors. Namely:

1.    How close are you to the nearest hospital?

2.    Is the necessary treatment is available?

3.    Do you have enough money to pay for your treatment?

My local hospital in England is under threat of closure. The local MP is campaigning hard to keep it open. It is 5 minutes from where my parents live and if it closes they may have to drive 30-45 minutes to another hospital. That seems like a long way by British standards. Most of the patients I see, live at least that far from a hospital. Some of our patients have travelled 2 days by bus to reach the ship. Even in the US and Canada, patients drive many hours to seek specialist help. Even with hospital closures, we are still very fortunate in England.

A friend of mine was unwell so she saw her GP. He did some blood tests and sent her for further investigation and biopsies at the local hospital. Biopsy results back, the GP started treatment and made a referral to a specialist hospital consultant. Specialist seen, she is now on treatment and getting better. All this within six weeks. God bless the NHS. In Guinea you don't have a local GP, even if you did they might not know what to do. If they knew what to do, they probably wouldn't be able to perform the specialist tests and investigations, because of a lack equipment (surgical or drugs). Doctors graduate from medical school and struggle to get jobs. Not because there isn't a need, there is, but there is no money to pay them. Their knowledge is far less than British graduates and their practical experience even more lacking. Specialist training is virtually non-existant. Only surgery; obstetrics and gynaecology; perhaps paediatrics, but little else. No cardiologists, gastroenterologists, neurologists, different types of surgeons, pathologists, anesthetists, or all the numerous specialities we are used to. In Guinea, you might have a hospital nearby, but you probably won't have the necessary specialist doctors and medical equipment to treat you. We are very fortunate in England.

My brother is moving to to work in another European country. He will have to pay for healthcare. There is no NHS where he is going. Even if his wife takes their baby daughter to the GP they will have to pay. Many first time mothers visit their GP frequently. The baby is not well, the mother is concerned and not sure what is wrong....first response is visit the doctor. That is a good response, it is safe and good for child health.  We don't even consider the cost, because in England we don't pay. It might be different if you lived in Europe or America. But we are English so we don't even consider these things. In Guinea you have to pay for everything. I visited the main hospital in Guinea a few weeks ago and accompanied a surgeon on his ward round. I met a young man who had been knocked over by a motor cycle. He had a broken jaw, and deep wounds on his arm and leg. His jaw needed surgical fixation, and his wounds needed cleaning and dressing in a sterile fashion. It was Friday afternoon. So far, nothing had been done other than apply a few old bandages to his wounds. If the man or his family could raise the money, he would have his operation on Monday, and his wounds dressed properly. If not he would be discharged. Meantime, his family still had to bring him meals while in the hospital. No free hospital meals like the NHS. In Guinea you may have a hospital, you may have specialist but do you have the money? I don't know what happened to the man I saw. In England we don't think about cost. We are very fortunate.

Being ill in Guinea is a risky business. In England we are very fortunate, despite hospital closures and NHS cut backs. We still have hospitals nearby, with highly trained medical staff, working equipment, and you don't pay a penny.

Thank God for the NHS. It might not be perfect but it is better than Guinea, and quite possibly, better than many other countries in the world.