MEDICAL CARE

[Tiff]

Hi what about medical insurance for those of us now permanently residing here ? Does anyone know of any local companies ? The cost of taking up insurance from UK is prohibitive. I am currently covered bu my comprehensive holiday insurance but when it runs out I cannot renew as I do not have a permanent UK address.

[busybee]

Baris does medical insurance.  He gave us quotes for 4 different levels of medical cover starting with basic cover and rising to one that covered all.  I can email you his telephone number if you wish.  He speaks excellent English.

[lindsey]

Fethiye Saglik Medical Centre (opposite Fire Station) in Fethiye offer a special scheme for residents.  There is a doctor and a dentist both of which speak good English

[caliswife]

Well my son and i had very different experiences of University Hospital in Antalya,he was taken by ambulance and admitted via the casualty department.We always found a person who spoke English,as this is a University hospital there were always medical students who were ready to lend a hand and get some practical help with their spoken English.The staff were very kind and helpful and staff and patients always made sure we had enough food,and before anyone else was served too.The food we found was plentiful and varied,i mean what is NHS hospital food like?Yes,i had to take him and xrays etc from different departments for more tests,and there was a lack of pillows and only one shower between 15 people,BUT,this is Turkey,and i found the whole experience to be most humbling as we saw so many people much worse than ourselves,even though i have to say my son has at 23 years of age the most serious of all mental illnesses.Thank God there was a hospital to go to and trained staff to help him,after all it is our choice to be here.I hope your husband is recovering well.Calis*****

quote:Originally posted by marmite

We have always received excellent treatment at the Esnaf.  Recently my husband was rushed into the Esnaf suffering with pneumonia and pleurisy - the english staff were very good and concerned and we couldn't fault any of the staff.  The only thing if I had to complain, is that the restaurant over the road is quite expensive and every thing is marked up in GBP.  once again I cannot understand this when we live in Turkey and work in YTL!

Unfortunately, my husband had an infection which did not respond to anti-biotics and Dr Bulent decided that the only way forward was for him to go to University Hospital in Antalya.  He organised everything and we were rushed up there in an ambulance.  

Well, if any of you reading this have do go to University Hospital, Antalya, please be forewarned.  Initially, when we arrived we were amazed that they do not speak English and if they do it is very reluctant and very little.  You have to take everything from a cup to towels.  The person with you is literally your gofer.  They had me running round from floor to floor collecting x-rays from doctors, passing messages,  finding the chemist to buy all his medication (they do not have a pharmacy in the hospital)plus things like kidney bowls, serviettes, paper sheets for the bed etc.  The hospital is not as we expected and eventually I managed to get him a private room which I had to pay for before they would allow him to be moved from the general ward (which was cold and had no privacy whatsoever) this meant running up and down stairs to find the department I had to pay the money to.  I had to wheel him down to the x-ray department and even push his bed with the help of a cleaner to the operating theatre (twice!)

On the plus side, the cleaniness is second to none and the medical staff (when we saw them) were as helpful as they could with the language barrier.  There are two english translators there and they are very good.  The food is absolutely awful! So take your own.

After his release, we have had to go back to Antalya twice as out-patient.  The final time he had to have an x-ray then the doctor went to lunch so 2.5 hours later, we finally saw someone ready to discharge him.  Then we had to pay the money.  This took 2 hours to do as again I had to run from department to department. Nothing is every easy it seems.

Well I am pleased to have him back home to recover.  Maybe I can get a bit of a rest as well now.

[chewyturk]

It has to be said that medical care is a lottery, not just in fethiye but throughout turkey. You only have to watch the turkish news, barely a day goes by without some sort of medical scandal somewhere. We used Letoon in 2000 when my daughter was vomiting and had diorrhrea. They put her on a drip (she was 1 year old) and inserted suppositories. Kept her in for 6 days at a cost of £900. When we returned to the UK our GP was infuriated and said he would have sent us home with a prescription for re-hydration solution.
If you're well enough to fly - go home to get it sorted!

[Alan Keating]

Having medical insurance provided by Barris, he informed us in September, that the company have withdrawn Esnaf hospital from the providers, only Letoon is listed. I was told that this was due to many complaints from all users.
Having never called upon the services & hopefully will never, I can not comment further.

[laffa]

 :)Think it depends on the duty doctor at the time, but I would never use the Esnaf again, they could not see the break on my arm after looking at the x-ray,i walked around in agony for 3and a half weeks, the doctor here told me before she x-rayed it that it was obviously broken, they charged me £110.00 for the x-ray and a wrist support, because I had 2, yes honestly 2 drinks,and told me to claim on my insurance.