Non-Americans, what's it like when you're sick and need to go to the doctor?
Non-Americans, what's it like when you're sick and need to go to the doctor?
Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Brazil
An USian journalist recently described his health care treatment in Brazil: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/29/brazil-health-care-sus-hospitals/
I believe this is a good description of the public health care here. I disagree with his statement on workers' strike. He didn't mention that Bolsonaro and Temer (last 2 presidents) reduced spending in public health care which probably impacted the hospital this journalist got taken care.
French here. when sick, I use an app to book a appointment to a medical center I have that's like 5 minutes away by foot ( not typical for all french residents but I am quite lucky with where I live). I usually have an appointment in the next 2 to 4 hours tops. Depending on what it is, I walk away with a prescription and certificate for work stating how many sicks days I have. This costs me nothing, appart from the occasional optional medication that is not reimbursed.
Poland:
If I'm sick or it's the 1st step in getting something diagnosed: I call the (public) clinic to book an appointment, get a date within like 3 days max. I usually leave with a prescription and paid doctor's leave for work. The visit costs nothing. If it's urgent you can walk in without an appointment or call the ambulance/go to the ER in your local hospital. This is free.
Sometimes the doctor gives you a medical referral to a specialist or for a certain test. This can be realized in the public health system, or at a private clinic.
Wait times vary a lot - some things like a blood test are very quick, but some specialists in the public system have very long wait times. Like, 6 months to a year. Some surgeries in the public system can take even longer. The public system is free, or has a small symbolic fee.
The private system is much faster for certain specialists - dentists, psychologists, dermatologists, injury rehabilitation, ect. but it also can't do everything. In my experience, almost all serious and niche surgeries are done in the public system for example.
Overall it's a decent experience, but the system is severely underfunded. This isn't really a case of mismanagement imo, it's genuinely just a lack of money in the system. Some surgeries can get delayed because money allocated for them ran out for the year.
I was on vacation in Portugal and twisted my ankle badly. It was in remote area, so hospital was not the best. But experience was ok. It was in a town with around 25k people. 2 hours of waiting. x-ray and doctor visit costed me 55 euros.
In my home country I pay 20 euros per month for private health insurance. This includes basic dental insurance. I guess, most expensive procedure I had is MRI of brain, but it was also fully covered so I’m not sure what was the price. There is free healthcare but I only had to resort to it once
Netherlands here, I call, have an appointment the same or next day, insurance covers all costs.
If they proscribe meds, I pay a part up until a maximum of 385 euros per year (called "own risk") , anything above that is covered as well.
I'm also covered for physiotherapy (18 sessions without "own risk"), psychological therapy, dentistry and a variety of alternative medicine!
I pay a pretty hefty premium, like 170 euros a month, but that's because I have the lowest "own risk" and I blow through that in the first month or 3 with my rickety ass body 😂
Definitely beats footing the bill completely, I've seen what dentistry costs 😱
Ireland here. I have been relatively lucky with my health since I've been here (last 10 years). The GP I go to gives a small discount because of where i work. I pay 50 euros a pop to see the doc (usually 60 I think) but the last two times I needed to see the doc it was a same day appointment. I paid for insurance the first year I was here, tried to use it when I saw a GP and they laughed in my face. Also frequently had my daughter seen (for free), they seem to keep increasing the age for which kids are seen for free, now up to age 7?
US expat in Colombia
For the general population, if you're sick you go to urgent care and maybe wait for several hours. If you need to see a specialist, those appointments can take a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on the type of specialty. Either way, the cost is about $3 (all prices are rough equivalents in USD) per visit to see a doctor.
My employer signed me up for private insurance that gives me "concierge service," so I have access to a different network of doctors with shorter wait times. If I'm sick, I can get a same-day house call. If I need a specialist, I can usually get an appointment in a two-week time frame. I pay about $50 per month for that (in addition to my normal taxes, which are used to fund the public system). My copay per visit, regardless of the type of doctor or procedure (exams, MRIs, etc.) is about $10.
One time, I paid out of pocket for an ultrasound because I didn't want to wait for the insurance company to approve it and go back for a separate appointment. It cost me about $25.
UK.
Until recently, if I wanted an appointment I had to phone the GP surgery the moment it opened at 8:30 in the morning, wait in a phone queue for ten minutes or so before I got to speak to a receptionist who'd give me an appointment with which ever GP had some free time that day. It wasn't usually possible to book an appointment several days in advance.
A couple of months back they switched to an app which gives much more flexibility, allows you to choose which doctor you want to see and allows you to book appointments in advance. I do worry that they're going to push everyone to use that since old gippers are likely to struggle with the app unless they're semi-tech savvy. Also, it's obvious to me that they're setting this up to use AI to triage requests if they're not already doing that.
Appointments always used to be face to face but since covid they're increasingly phone consultations especially for follow-ups. If it's a first, diagnostic appointment it's still likely to be face to face though.
For face to face, the wait time is generally less than half an hour from the point I get to the GP surgery.
Obv. it's free at the point of use. I've paid my taxes.
Edit to add: if you're on low income, or are a child, old, etc you get your prescriptions free. Otherwise you have to pay for them at £9.90 per 2 month prescription. I'm on a shitload of medication and that would normally cost me well over £500 a year, but I get a prepayment certificate which costs me £114.50 a year and covers all medication.
Netherlands. I can call to make an appointment, or do it online. Then i walk/bike there, its in the neighbourhood. We have about 10 minutes for an appointment. The doctor either refers me to a specialist, prescribes drugs (most doctors have a pharmacy attached), or does small procedures. For jabs, check ups, stool samples, that type of stuff, the assistent takes care of it most of the time. You can leave without paying.
We pay a monthly insurance that pays for everything, basically. im over simplifying, its not that straightforward, but its what it boils down to.
I'm in France in a small village but I'm quite lucky with the doctor situation.
If I'm sick I go online, see what shot is available for my doctor and book it, usually in the best few days. If it's urgent I can call or go there and I'll usually get an appointment during the day with my doctor or one of the other two doctors working there.
Then I walk there since it's 400m away.
Germany.
Well, the health system is great, as long as you don't get sick. Or need life-saving emergency care immediately.
But not for many things in between.
Example ADHD: The GP can write a referral to get diagnosed, for free, but no psychiatrist or psychological therapist (the only ones allowed to do that) will take you. So best bet is to pay out of pocket in a practice that does it over video and is recognised in Germany. Can be done under 1k EUR that way, at least (~ 2k EUR with a private, out-of-network therapist). Recurring prescription and private doctor is about EUR 150 per month; a therapy session costs EUR 200. It is absolutely realistic to get the prescriptions and meds covered by a doctor in the insurance network, though. Therapy through insurance is also a possibility if it's not urgent and you don't ACTUALLY have ADHD or depression so you can do many phone calls, like 6 - 12 months, and you don't care who treats you.
Glasses are also not covered, e. g. workplace glasses > EUR 500 out of pocket. But, randomly, a write-off. Treatment by a homeopathic practitioner - covered, just for the lulz.
But yes, about to die within 48 hours? As long as you can convince them that this is the case (got to self-diagnose and be a persistent ass if it's not obvious), you'll get help, it might be at a very decent level even compared to many other 1st world countries, and it'll be completely covered by insurance.
Also, the monthly premium is EUR 1100 (includes nursing care insurance; there isn't much nursing happening either way though). Employer pays half, freelancers pay full. It's not legal to quit and be "uninsured". Also, you can have it lowered if you can prove that you make under 66k per year (to 19 % of income).
Oh, and only the insurance premium is a tax write-off. What you have to pay out of pocket (talking about treatment that your GP deemed essential, not dental bleeching) is paid for by your net income.
Some other random things also work out within a month and are covered, such as a quick eye checkup, dental checkup / very basic dental filling (pay out of pocket for most filling materials, but not the time), anything a GP or family doctor can do in 10 minutes.
I call my Dr.
I book an appointment. If urgent but not medically urgent to my immediate wellbeing I can get in in a week or so.
If urgent, but not emergency, I can go to a clinic or the hospital non emergency (hospital can have wait times up to several hours)
If emergency and severe or traumatic injury or life threatening - emergency at hospital. Triage assesses need. Last time I had to take someone it was maybe a 20 minute wait - they had been hurt pretty bad - got jumped.
None of any of the above will cost me any money.
An ambulance, though, costs like 75$ if it is not life threatening.
Canada.
Germany
Had 3 surgeries (wisedom teeth, nose bone correction and a refilling tooth surgery), an X-Ray, MRI, and i think 4 doctor visits plus all 3 months a psychiatrist to get my adhd medication.
The only thing i had to pay was 50€ for a none concret filling on my tooth, and 30€ for 6 days in hospital.
Hospital food was better than i expected and always heared about.
Had to wait a year for that surgery but the other specialist appointments were really quick in only a few months. Especially the wisdomtooth was in 2 weeks after the call for an appointment
Wait time was only a few minutes.
But had an appointment at a dermitologist and there i waited 3 hours!! Almost walked out. And i wanted was more info about my skin type and laser hair removal.
Everything is covered by the insurance though it needs a huge reforms. There is a two class system and government workers dont pay into it at all but get the Premium benefits. And that the insurance companys are covering less and less with dental now only 1 check up every half year.
Yes i am outrages that only concret to fill holes or build up a tooth is free. Fucking concret!! It is an outrage!
Costa Rica : You can have an appointment the same or the next day, and appointmens can be requestet online, by phone or getting to the nearest medical medical center. Costa Rica's social security covers everything, from medication to surgery and you are covered for the next theree months if you lose your job. There are few surgeried that are not practiced in the country as some may need technology that we do not have. The cons of Costa Ricas social health's service is that for some processes the waiting lines are very long and could take even a year or more. Might not be as good as european social health's services, but for a third world country I think is not any bad.
We go to see a private doctor.
Here in Costa Rica you have to wait like 5 hours to get attended on a public hospital.
For the appointment you have to pay like $50 plus medications
United Kingdom (Bristol.)
Used to be pretty decent, but now the NHS is chronically overbooked and underfunded. Ambulances can take hours to come.
Only way to get a GP appointment is to literally call my practice at 8AM on the dot, wait in the queue and hope you're lucky to have your call answered before all the appointments are gone. There is no online booking system, and if you call at any other time, they won't be able to book you in advance unless you're willing to wait months.
My dad (80 years old) has had to go to hospital a few times in the past few years for various reasons, and the longest he's had to wait to be admitted into a ward was 13 hours. He had a hip replacement operation two years ago where he was on an 18 month waiting list.
Brazil:
Call an Uber, go to the hospital, grab a ticket, pass thru triage, called by name, show my id, triage decide which specialist to see, go to specialist waiting room and wait to be called by name.
Doctor examines me, ask for exams, maybe prescribe medication, do the exams, wait for result.
Back to doctor, prescribe medication, hospital provides medication (unless is something very uncommon, if so go to the pharmacy and buy it).
Call Uber, go home.
Total cost: Uber fare, usually about 6 dollars total.
Germany. When I am sick I call my doctor in the morning ask what time would be best to go there as to not wait too long. Then I go there, wait maybe an hour sometimes because he likes taking time for his patients, tell him my symptoms, get a sick note for work and possibly a prescription if I need medication.
I dont pay anything for the visit. If I need medication I will go to the pharmacy near my flat after the visit give them my health card, get my medication and depending on what drug I got pay a little bit, maybe 5€ , maybe a bit more.
The Netherlands
I call my doctor, make an appointment the same day, go there, tell my story, get referred to a specialist or get meds or whatever, all covered by insurance.
Specialist: sometimes appointment within a week or 2, sometimes it takes a month. It's covered by insurance, but there's an own risk budget each year of 380 euros. So all costs up to that budget are paid by yourself, the rest is covered. But since I'm getting mental health care, I pay 380 each januari and the rest for the entire year is all covered. This year I've had a broken collarbone repaired with a metal plate with all the photos before and after, I had 2 bladder infections which needed antibiotics and I had food poisoning on holiday and intestand infection, which was all covered at home and abroad.
Insurance
I pay 180 a month. It includes dental and some extras like 9 physical therapist appointments.
It's immensely expensive!
I went to the doctor and he charged me 1 euro.
The imaging in the hospital and the orthopedist only cost 2.8 euro.
So they're really leeching it.But seriously it's difficult to get an appointment and nowhere do they take new patients.
Smart government decided on a numerus clausus and now there aren't enough doctors.
The ones that are there lately don't want to work fulltime, so even less availability.Germany. It has gotten worse over the last decade regarding waiting times but for regular appointments it might mean waiting 1 week to almost a year. Less, depending on your urgency or precondition. Usually it's still OK.
Regarding the finances it's still great in international comparison. I was resuscitated and taking quite a lot of medicine and am not broke but you still (might) pay a (very) small part on hospital stay and regular medication. Compared to.the full price on both that is neglegible though.
AMA!
In short: you go to the doctor based on medical requirement and not Financials. You call the ambulance whenever urgency is needed.
Australia, Canberra
Zero cost, 10 to 20 minute wait, no wait if my appointment is early in the day, 20 minutes if it's in the afternoon
From US and was visiting Singapore when I came down with a sinus infection.
Took the elevator from the government controlled housing to the ground floor.
Walked 5 minutes to the attached small community strip mall which consisted of cheap food options, a grocery/convenience store, and a number of essential stores including a small drs office.
Waited 15 minutes, saw the dr. Explained my condition, allergies and medication I usually take and went through the exam. We had to help look up some of the medication names.
Paid $35 for the exam. There was some confusion because I expected it to cost more and I asked about. They apologized and said that since I’m foreign I had to pay full price.
Walked across the mall to the small pharmacy. Waited 5 minutes for the antibiotics prescription. Paid maybe $5?
Bought some tea from the grocery and was better over a few days.
People from the US who travel and need healthcare know very well our system is the worst.
Australia
- for non-urgent regular things book with my GP in an app (pretty sure that’s the case for most GPs too). usually an appointment within a few days; sometimes he’s booked out for a couple of weeks, but if i don’t feel like waiting i can book anywhere else. when i go to my appointment, tests etc are all free. i go to a private clinic so i pay $75AUD (~$50USD) and the govt reimburses me $45 of that - public clinics are free but i go to a speciality clinic
- for non-urgent sick things (or anything really - scripts etc too; i just use it when i don’t want to go to my GP) we have home doctor service: you book in an app and a doctor will come to your house the same day - free
- for specialists the waiting period can depend on what it is, but i have had a 3mo wait for a specialist before :(… usually you go to your GP, get a referral, see a specialist, then perhaps have surgery if necessary. it can be a months long wait for surgeries which is not great, buuuuut it’s also great to go in for day surgery in the morning, and just leave later that day without paying a cent
- for emergency, unfortunately you can be waiting for a few hours… they triage you so i’m sure if it’s a real issue you wouldn’t keep you waiting but for things like potentially broken bones you can be waiting for up to 3hr… it’s all free
- for ambulance it differs per state but in my state (victoria) they aren’t - it’s ~$1400 for an emergency trip. you can also buy ambulance membership for $53/y and it’s free
pretty much anything where i’ve talked about costs or free you give them your medicare (federal health system for everyone - not just low income etc) details and they bill the govt a set amount for time and materials used. GP clinics etc store it on file so sometimes you can just walk out without talking to anyone
in my city (southeastern Brazil) we have two facilities for public healthcare: the emergency center (UPA - unidade de pronto atendimento, emergency medical unit) and the family health center (UBS - unidade básica de saúde, basic health unit)
at the UBS I can see a doctor or a nurse, get prescriptions, get referred to specialists and exams/tests, IST tests, and so forth, if I'm not in meed of urgent care
at the UPA I can be treated (rather) quickly if I'm in an emergency
a few weeks ago my uncle had a heart attack. it was nothing serious, thankfully. we called the ambulance and in 5 minutes they were here, he was treated quickly, sent to another city nearby for emergency catheterism and angioplasty, and he paid a total amount of zero reais for everything
I love SUS (sistema universal de saúde - universal healthcare system)
Thailand. Private pay.
Take a ride share car to the private hospital.
Greeted by concierge when I walk in. She asks why I'm here and then directs me to another desk on another floor.
Entering the next room feels a bit like a hotel lobby. There are big sofas and comfortable lighting. It feels cozy even though it's a large space. There's a Starbucks. Another concierge approaches me. I explain why I'm here and I'm sat down and handed an iPad where I can fill in some medical background. They have my record from a previous visit so it's quick. I confirm that I will pay with a credit card instead of using any insurance.
In about 10 minutes I'm brought to a room where a nurse catches my weight and blood pressure. Then I'm brought to the patient exam room.
A few minutes later the doctor comes in and performs his examination. He makes his diagnosis types some notes into his computer. He asks me to come back for a follow-up in one week and pick up my prescription on the way out.
Leaving the exam room, another nurse catches me to hand me the diagnosis paperwork and points me to the pharmacy.
I walk to the pharmacy and hand them my paperwork. They collect my payment for the whole visit and ask me to wait until my name is called to pick up the prescription.
About 10 minutes later the prescription is ready and I'm out the door with a small bag of drugs and about $125 out of my wallet.
The service is comprehensive and everything is available in one building. For this country it's a bit expensive but you feel like you're very well taken care of and it's instant.
Australian here from Victoria. Going to the GP will cost me around $80 up front and I get around $50 back from Medicare later. This is for about a 30 minute consultation with a doctor. The wait time is rarely longer than 15 minutes but it really depends on the practice. I've waited 2+hours for a GP that was fully covered by Medicare.
France
Most GPs afaik are liberal -they have their own private office instead of working in the confines of a hospital-, and there's three different possible cost levels, whether or not the GP adheres to what's called the "convention" with social security (which fixes prices for typical medical acts), adheres partly, or does not adhere at all (pretty rare). Full adherence to the convention means the base consultation costs 30e, and makes sure the patient is reimbursed to 70% of that cost with basic universal healthcare (=you have to pay 10e from your own pocket), the rest being covered by their (highly regulated) private insurance if they have one. I have a pretty standard one at 37e/month which ensures I get reimbursed for pretty much all acts. I am getting treated for a cavity and a fill replacement next week at no cost for me.
Give them a call. Generally get an appointment within 2 days.
Get told to take paracetamol for 2 weeks and make another appointment if the problem persists.Drs are generally on time maybe 10 min behind but when I was in Australia they would regularly get up to an hour late.
Costs are generally subsidied by the national government so unless something comes up unexpectedly there is no cost. If something does then you pay a fee and your private health takes care of the rest.
UK. Phone local GP, no appointments available for ~3 weeks, maybe get a call back appointment in 2 weeks if I'm lucky. Alternative is to phone every morning between 0830-0900 and either not get through or be told there are still no appointments available.
I have found walk in pharmacists to be well educated (better than many GPs?!) and available without appointment so they're usually my first port of call.
Sweden.
A few alternatives:
- I could book an appointment at the local health center. I would probably get a time at the earliest next week, and it would cost me $30. Health center doctors are generally quite overworked, and can sometimes be a bit dismissive of your issues in my experience, but they will help you. If you need specialist care, they will give you a referral, which could take several months depending on the priority of the case and the type of specialist.
- I could use an app to get access to a video call with a doctor, after having described my symptoms in the app. I would get a video call the same day and it would cost me $30. Given the remote nature of this kind of contact, they can be a bit limited in what they can do for you, but will try to help you regardless. If your case requires in-person examination, they will ask you to go to a health center instead. If you need specialist care, they will give you a referral and you'll have to wait the same amount of time as for a referral in the health center scenario.
- I am lucky enough to have a private health insurance plan through my employer. If I have any problems, I'll submit them to this private health insurer, and they put a human on the case and connects me with a specialist right away if the problem warrants one. Typically this happens the same or the next day. This costs me nothing, apart from what I pay in benefit taxes to be on the private health insurance plan.
All in all, things work fairly well in Sweden, but having gotten private health insurance has definitely jaded me a bit on account of how much better the experience is when you have that. If only the public system wasn't systematically underfunded and run by the dumbest politicians on offer in the country, then maybe everyone could have great patient experience.
United Kingdom, Dorset.
My 3 year old daughter was vomiting and not keeping liquids down. Phoned the non-emergency line and after a bit of a wait, spoke to them and went through the script.
Was told to go to A&E and we would be expected. After a short wait there, was led down to the children's ward and she was given a bed in her own room. She was put on a drip, had antibiotics and kept in overnight. By the end of the following day she was able to keep down water and some toast so was discharged.
Had a follow on call from a GP the next day, she was back to normal in a couple of days.
Cost: £0 (I contribute to the NHS through general taxation)
Switzerland
Depends a bit on the plan you have. Generally I would call the clinic registered with my health insurance or fill in their online form to make an appointment. Depending on what it is you get an appointment within the week, but for more pressing issues it's usually on the same day.
If it's an emergency I can go to any hospital or clinic, but depending on my insurance I would be transfered after the acute symptoms are taken care of.
If for some reason I'm not anywhere close to my registered clinic, I have to call a 24/7 number to get a referral to a doctor nearby.
Prices are reasonable for the high level in Switzerland. Deductibles limits handle how much you have to pay out of pocket, so it rarely fucks you up.
The real issue is the ever increasing insurance premiums. They are not tied to your income level, but to where you live, your gender and age. Poorer people get support by the government, but that's just tax money flowing directly into private insurance companies.
Norway, I book online if it's not urgent and wait a few weeks. If it's urgent I call them and get it same day. Costs about ~250 NOK or ~20 USD I think. Public doctors are always at least 45 minutes late (unless you are late if course, then they call you on time)
I also had a non-urgent matter, but felt like wait time was too long (holiday season) so I went to a private clinic, got appointment same day and paid about 700 NOK I think.
I go there, tell my story, if they need to take some samples they can usually do them on site right away for no additional charge.
If I need some medicine they prescribe that and tell me to come back in x weeks if it's not getting better.
If they can't help me I get a referral. It could take a long time to get certain procedures, especially if they are not urgent/very important, but most of the time it's been a few weeks for my issues.
Like going to a post office.
You walk in, show your health ID, get treated, then leave.
Edit: Assuming you're going to a hospital. Family doctor care is similar, although in my province they're contractors, and it can be hard to find one with an opening for new patients right now.
Oh, I just noticed it wait time was requested. It varies for family doctors; the local one that sucks can pretty much always get you in immediately. I'm with one that needs a couple days notice now, haha.
If you get referred to a specialist it's a long wait, like many months, and when you do go it's a human production line coordinated down to the second.
UK here. This is all "free" (i.e. paid for by a significant portion of every paycheck I ever earn via tax).
I phone my GP. They say you have I call at 0830 to get an appointment. Call back tomorrow. I ask for an advance appointment and they say they have nothing for 6+ weeks. So I call back the next day and the line is constantly busy. I get through at 0837 after mashing redial constantly. I'm told the appointments are all gone and I should call back tomorrow again. They suggest "if it's urgent then go to the A&E department"....which is clearly inappropriate for my problem. So I call back the next day. The next day I happen to get through at 0833 and they take my details. I'm told the doctor will call me back at some point later that day. Spend the day watching the phone, but can't answer it because I'm work. Duck out of something really important at work to take the call, I'm told to come to the GP later in the day. Later in the day I have work stuff I can't just leave immediately, so I ask for an appointment the next day. Get told to phone back at 0830 the next day to make an appointment.
I've figured out a way to short circuit the system. There's a national urgent medical line (111) and I have to answer the operator's questions for 20 min (am I bleeding profusely? Am I unable to breathe? Am I going to die imminently?). Finally, they're able to allocate an appointment for my own GP at a sensible time the next day.....apparently thesr guys have access to appointments with my GP which the fucking GP won't give me. Great! I go to the GP to be seen by a FY2 doctor (i.e. 15 months posts undergraduate qualification), this guy admits that he doesn't know what he's doing, that he'll speak to the GP later and phone me back with the outcome later that day. He phones me back later that day saying they don't know what to do so they're going to refer me to a hospital specialist, the hospital appointment should be sent to me in 10 months or so.
The few times I have had to go to the A&E department with my kid, I've taken chargers, entertainment devices, extra coat for my kid to use as a blanket, food (2 full packed meals), water, video game console.......I'm expecting to be there for about 6 hours if things move really quickly.
The state of national healthcare in this country. Thank you Conservatives, for 13 years of record low investment.
Portugal
If it doesn't require immediate attention I call my health center. I can get an appointment with my family pshysician in a few days or, if it's more urgent, some other doctor will see me the same day but I'll have to wait there until one is free (can go anywhere between 15mn and 2 hours). I'm lucky though, some health centers suck really bad. The ones in big cities are generally better.
If it's more urgent I call the national health line and they'll A: tell me how to treat it myself B: set up an appointment in my health center (or another if mine is not available) C: send me straight to the closest emergency room.
Wait times in the emergency room depend on the gravity and the hospital. My hospital sucks. Low priority you'll spend there the whole day, easy. 10+ hours. Medium priority you'll wait 4 or 5 hours. High priority about an hour, maybe two. Very high priority (head falling off) you go right in. In good hospitals those times are much lower. In the major city I used to live I never waited more than 2 hours for any priority. I also had surgery there and it was great.
Never paid a cent, I think it goes without saying.
Brazil.
If I'm at home and simply unwell, I can walk to the neighborhood clinic (one specific clinic based on my address) and get checked - that usually takes half an hour to a couple hours, but it may not always have a doctor available.
So most people skip the local clinic completely and go to a municipal hospital instead (something doctors often plead people not to do). These should always have a couple doctors available and they'll see anybody - even if you have no documents. When you get there a nurse will check your pulse and stuff and ask some questions to determine your priority level, then the waiting time can go up to 4 hours if it's low priority.
If you need specific exams, that will depend on how well equipped the hospital is. Many will do it right there, some will request it from other cities and that may take time, so there's the option of doing it in private clinics too.
No matter what you may end up needing, if you do it through the public health system you won't need to pay anything at all. Even experimental treatments and surgeries can get arranged. But there's always the option of going to private clinics as well. Those can have much shorter waiting times.
Based on my limited experience, this is what people seem to do for each kind of visit:
Emergencies: pretty much everybody go to public hospitals. Most places don't even have private options for this.
Basic check up: most people will use the public system first, unless it's something very specific and they are well financially.
Dental care: most people who won't be financially crippled by it will go private. People tend to stick with the same dentist once they find a good one. On the public system you never know who you might be seeing.
Eye doctor: 50/50. There are nearly as many private options for this as there are for dental care, but a lot of them suck.
Expensive exams and operations: people will try to get them for free at first, or through some Health insurance plan they may have from work. Everybody knows someone who's been waiting months for something on the public system.
Germany:
I call the office
I schedule a time (and maybe a date if it's not urgent)
I go there
I get my treatment (advice), a prescription and if needed when to reschedule
I go to the apothecary and redeem my medication (usually without extra charges. But some arent subsidized 100% and you need to pay the remaining)
I get better again
I start workingI've lived in multiple places, so I'll talk about all of them.
Brazil
I lived in two places there, essentially you can choose between public or private systems.
Under the private system you would book an appointment with whatever doctor you wanted, usually one or two weeks in advance, pay them (which is relatively expensive depending on the doctor), have the consultation, they might ask for some exams (some of which are paid, others included), possibly get a prescription (that you would have to pay for yourself), possibly go back for a follow up appointment (included in the price you already paid).
On the public system you book an appointment, wait some time (months in some places, days in others), have your consultation (if the doctor is in that day), possibly get a prescription (that you would likely get for free), possibly go back for a follow up appointment.
Ireland
There's a public system, but you have to be below a certain income level to use it, otherwise you have to go through the private system. You have to register with your GP (most of which don't have available spots), for anything you first need to contact your GP (which usually takes a week), and pay €60, explain your problem and if they choose to forward you to and specialist (even if you go and say I need to see a cardiologist they might say "no, you do not", although that's unlikely), then they send an email to the specialist who only then accepts that you book with them (usually for a week or so later), then you have to pay the specialist (which is usually >€300), they might ask for some exams (which you have to book and pay on your own, some blood work I did was €700), they might give you a prescription (which is paid but there's a €80 cap on medicine per house per month, which is the only nice part of the whole system), and if you need a follow up it's usually €150. If you have health insurance (or at least mine was like this) they give you back 50% of all your expenses up to a certain limit.
Spain
I'm not too familiar with the options here because I have private insurance through my work and as you'll see I've had no reason to look elsewhere, but I've been told the public system is fairly similar. Whenever I need an appointment I open my insurance app or call a doctor office and ask if they take my insurance, book an appointment (usually for a week or two in advance), go there, show my id and insurance card, go to the appointment, if they ask for some exams I do them, if they give me a prescription I take it to a pharmacy and pay it out of pocket (this is the only part I know public system exists and is somewhat better because you get the drugs for free, but since I don't take any recurring prescriptions I haven't bothered to check), if I need a follow up I book it and go back. Never had to pay one cent for anything other than medicine. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop and getting billed for all of the Dr appointments, but so far it hasn't happened hahaha
Germany,rural area.
I call my GP. It might take a few tries to get through. Tell the receptionist what I've got, she is more or less trying to triage me. When it's urgent enough and I am calling early enough I can usually get there on the same day but have to wait longer at the office,if it's less serious it's mostly one or two days,but with less waiting time at the office. To check in you hand them your insurance card. Medication is prescribed electronically, so you just hand the card (or do it online) at the pharmacy. The GP visit is free, medication has a small, limited copay. You get fully paid for 6 weeks of sickness per diagnosis by your employer, reduced pay for up to 2 years by the health insurance.
If it's an illness requiring a specialist I can also try to book an appointment for that directly - but while that works well in larger cities it is totally impossible here, you simply won't get an appointment, not even in a year. The same happens when your GP refers you to a specialist,but there are mechanisms to give you a more urgent appointment - which works sometimes,sometimes they don't.
From south Brazil.
For something not urgent I can usually get a private GP within a week or a specialist within a month.
For something a bit more urgent, usually 1-2 hours in a private hospital, or 2-6 hours in a public one.
When going private the health insurance has always covered everything, so no cost.
Never had an emergency so I can't say how it is.Canada. It's generally easy and free (no direct cost to me). I try to avoid having to go to my doctor whenever possible and I live with a nurse (and my doc knows that). Usually when I send him a message, either by email or by calling, he'll have a follow up question or two (sometimes none) then decide a course of action and move right to implementation. Sometimes that's sending a script to my local pharmacy, sometimes that's a referral to a specialist. Who knows? I haven't seen the guy in years. But if he made the request for me to go in, I would without hesitation.
I know my experience isn't the same as others, since my doctor and my spouse have actually worked together; but still. It's all free and there's usually minimal waiting.
The only significant delays I've heard of in Canadian healthcare relate to major procedures when the issue is non-critical. Like getting an MRI as a precaution, to make sure things aren't messed up or something (IDK what MRIs are used to diagnose, I am not a doctor).
Everything is triaged, so if you're not actively dying from a thing, and you need a big piece of equipment to scan you to figure something out, you're going to be waiting a while.
Brazil, urban area, with a health plan (private healthcare)
I go to the doctor, grab a little paper with a number on it, wait for the number to be displayed on the monitor, go to the reception desk, give them my health plan card and my ID, they give those back to me, I sit back down and wait for the same number to be displayed on a different monitor. Once it's displayed, I go to the room number shown on the monitor and from there, I discuss what problem I have with an adequate specialist.
For an unplanned visit, the wait time is usually 5–30 minutes, depending on the hour and season (there are a lot of tourists during summer, meaning longer wait times and more people at the hospital).
I don't know about pricing (my parents pay for it), but it's probably not too expensive since we've never had financial problems due to health issues (as far as I'm aware).
I've never not went to the doctor for financial reasons, only for health concerns (worrying about getting sick with something else, specially if the waiting room is full or almost full). Sometimes prescribed medicine can be pretty expensive.
Slovakia
Notify my employer that I won't show up, go to doctor and wait in the waiting room. When the nurse shows up, give her the insurance card and wait for your turn. They'll check you, and if it's nothing special (requiring a specialist), you'll probably get prescription for some meds to pick up.
Then you get those in a pharmacy. Either it's electronic, or if the system is once again broken, you hand them the Rx paper that the Dr. gives you in that case. And then you figure out what you're about to pay. A lot of things will be fully covered by insurance, but potentially you'll have to copay. There's also a chance the Dr. tells you to get something that isn't covered, like some specific eyedrops, cough meds, probiotics (if you have antibiotics for example), etc.The pharmacist may recommend a cheaper alternative, will likely tell you recommended dosage, tell you that once again this specific Dr. prescribed something that hasn't been manufactured for the past 30 years, and in the rare case, tell you the prescription seems dangerous and to contact the Dr.
And also decrypt any handwriting/encoding.Canadian here. My son just had an ear infection that was lasting 3 days. On the 3rd morning we called our doctors office to have it checked. They were able to squeeze us in at noon. Took him, and they couldn't tell if it was viral or bacterial, so suggested we wait and see if it clears. Didn't clear after another 2 days, but it was the weekend now. Called 811 and they contacted a medical center to make us an appointment in the morning. Next morning (Sunday now) office called us, made an appointment and saw him again. This time we got a prescription for some antibiotics.
I've taken a course about anti-microbial resistance and I understand that doctors are instructed not to go with antibiotics first thing so it didn't really bother me to go back a second time. It was nice they it was easy to be seen again even if it wasn't with the family doctor.
Germany: If I'm sick and want an appointment asap I just go. They tell you to call in advance but if you do they give you an appointment for another day and if you just rock up they tell you to sit down and wait for the doc. Which can take anywhere between 5 minutes and 5 hours, at least that's about the range I've experienced. Oh and not sure if that's only a thing here but it's common to awkwardly greet the other patients when you get into the waiting area.
Seeing the doc would be similar to the US I guess, except there's no need to discuss money. Doctors shake hands here, maybe that's different from you but Idk. After the appointment you check in with the front desk again to fetch any prescriptions (although those are mostly digital since last year) and notes you may need for work. That's also the time to book a follow up appointment if you need one.
Cost depends on what you got. Getting extensive bloodwork or some less "necessary" exams for example aren't covered by insurance. There's a flat 5€ fee for prescription meds and 10€ per day in a clinic. If you don't have enough money you can let the insurance company know and they'll cover some of those fees too.
Ex had gallbladder issues that ran in the family.
One night she had bad abdominal pain. Drive over and rush her to hospital. Gets in 15 minutes. Nurses provide aid and pain relief, night shift ER doc looks her over, determines is likely gall bladder and it needs to be removed based on pain. Morning doctor looks her over, says it's not bad enough to warrant immediate attention, sends her home with painkillers, an appointment for an ultrasound and a 6 month-ish waitlist for removal.
--
Two nights later, same story, she opts for an ambulance this time. This time the same night shift doctor stays a bit late to ensure that she gets an ultrasound right away.
Gets sent home after the ultrasound and told that they will phone with next steps same day.
11am, go back to the hospital, get told that she is being admitted for immediate gallbladder removal. Ended up taking a day and a half to get to the surgery because of a bad motorcycle accident then two emergency c-sections tired out the only surgeon available and his staff over a straight 24 hour shift. 8 hours sleep and she was first up. Got it out, follow up at a nurse practitioner to get the drain removed.
Cost to us: $0
I'm an American, but when I lived in Japan, I needed to go to the doctor a few times. Honestly, the experience isn't great aside from it being cheap.
For example, I herniated a disc in my neck at one point and needed to go to the emergency department. I got there just after 10:00 a.m. and was told that they stop accepting patients at 10:00. "Fortunately", I was unable to hold my head up straight, so they decided to see me anyway. The appointment was just over the equivalent of $20 at the time. They prescribed a muscle relaxer and sent me on my way. The prescription could be filled a block or two away and was pretty quick and only cost about 10 bucks. (Edit: I should note that this was a very temporary solution. The problem lasted for years.)
Another time, I went to a clinic to try to get a sinus infection treated. I had/have a history of chronic sinus infections. Despite speaking pretty good Japanese and having a dictionary with me, I could not get them to understand the concept of a sinus infection. They put me on a nebulizer and then sent me home. Obviously not helpful. Don't remember what it cost.
Canada, I make an appointment with my family doctor, usually within a week, free. Specialists are more annoying because our right wing provincial government keeps chipping away at public healthcare and justifying it with its own results, but generally goes pretty quick too.
If it's urgent, I go down there. If not, I schedule an appointment (how soon usually depends on the severity. Can be the next day, or the next week).
Example: My oldest kid (12 years old at the time) fractured his arm while in school last spring. I was notified right away, so I picked him up at school and took him to the local clinic (3 minutes away) . The doctor wanted some xrays done, so he referred him to the local hospital and gave him some painkillers for the one hour trip (we live kind of in the middle of nowhere).
We arrived at the ICU (it was after "office hours"), so we had to wait 30 minutes for the x-ray tech to be available. Turned out a titanium rod insert was needed, which requires anesthesia, so they couldn't do it the same day because of fasting requirements. Operation "scheduled" for the next day. He was given a temporary cast.
Day arrived, and while there was a bit of wait since it was something they'd just have to insert into the schedule for the day whenever possible. Surgery went according to plan, and he was given a sandwich upon waking up, as he hadn't eaten since the day before. He had a new cast on that he had to keep for a couple of weeks. The local clinic could remove it, but they wanted to do it at the hospital so they could do a follow up xray to see that it was healing properly.
A few weeks later, and things looked good. Cast removed.
A couple of months ago he had the titanium rod removed without much ado.
My only expense was the fuel cost for driving to the hospital.
The only negative feedback I have is that my son didn't get to keep the titanium rod as a souvenir after they removed it. I guess the doctors have better things to do than washing gore off of scrap metal.
It's pretty much bullshit, you just get ignored or condescended to by assholes who want you out of their office so they can get the next "billable" in. When you demand competent attention, they just use their knowledge of the system to fuck with you. I had a doctor write me out a prescription the pharmacist took away, hiding the evidence of the doctor writing out a female hormone prescription rather than an appropriate treatment. 3 year wait list for a specialist, turned up they day of to find it had been cancelled a year prior. No recourse, can't contact these people by phone, when you trick the accounting dept to put you through to the office you had the appointment with, they lose their shit on you. STD check request? You get some moron demanding to know why you feel the need for testing. Canada, btw. I haven't had health insurance in 9 years, the first 6 because that province I lived i flat out refused to issue a health card, and the last three i this province, just because I am so over their bullshit I no longer care, I ever get hurt bad enough again need help, I'll worry about it then I guess. They just tend to let you die anyways, as far as diseases, injuries they'll do what they can, but cancer and the like they wait you out.
UK and Australia I’m originally from the UK but lived in Aus for 20 years. I returned to the UK a year ago due to my Mom getting a terminal diagnosis.
In the UK I’ve had two GPs this year due to moving around. First GP you’d request appointments via an online form that was available for about an hour at the start of every day and they’d send you a date and time once they’d triaged all the requests. Usually got in within a day or two. Second GP requires a call, and you can book an appointment provided it’s not a busy day, again usually 2-3 days depending on how busy they are. Both GPs were via the NHS, so no upfront cost, just a small amount taken from your pay each month.
In Aus, my GP was free at the point of delivery. It was pretty easy to get appointments and if you really wanted to see him, you could just turn up and wait until he could fit you in. Sometimes a 2 hour wait, but you could put your name down and return in 2 hours. I’m planning to change GP when I get back so will probably end up finding one where you pay an additional fee. There’s almost no doctors where you don’t pay extra any more.
France, not a big city. If I'm sick. I call the doctor office, in another city because all doctors here have no places. I may book an appointment in two or three weeks. If I really need a doctor, I can book an appointment to "sos doctor", that I will pay for a part (and part healthcare), or go to a non-vital emergency doctor at night, which is expensive (for a doctor in France) but reimbursed by healthcare. I can have access to this because I'm still in/near a city.
The waiting time in a doctor office can be long, depending if they take time for their patients or not. I'm ok with that. If I have an appointment to my usual doctor, I don't pay or I only pay a little part which will be reimbursed minus 1€ (50/year max). There are doctors with exceding fees, like "sos doctor", those feeds are out of my pocket. Most of the time, we have healthcare AND private insurance, but there is a health insurance for poor people.
For medecine, most of the times we don't pay anything but there are fees, 1€/medecine box (50/year max, but not the same as the 50 for doctors).
i just go 😊
I go there, try to explain what I have (I don't speak Korean and the doctor is not very good in English). Then the might give me a shot and let me inhale some stuff. Then I pay some mony (don't remember exactly how much, but not so much) and they give me a prescription and I go away. Most of the time it takes about 10 minutes.
One of the few things I liked about Russia is the healthcare system.
If you have money, and I don't mean like you're in the top 1% or 10%, you just have an average salary, you can get any doctor any procedure within 2 days. Neck MRI is $120; ultrasound is about $30; regular appointment is also $20-30; PET $400.
When it comes to the free healthcare tier, it's kinda tricky. In an emergency you could be delivered either in a new medical center with boxes and wifi, or they could throw you in an old hospital where various infections were living for centuries and doctors just hate this place and everyone who's around.
Haven't been there for almost 5 years, if we exclude a short two month period where I haven't interacted with the healthcare system. I heard that due to sanctions there's a lack of basic medicine right now: antibiotics, infusions, and even paracetamol.
I usually book an appointment. Appear on the proper day. Get my exams done, leave, no money spent. If it's like a screening for something that can be done in a public health clinic, I'll go, spend about 30 mins to one hour waiting, talk to the doc, get whatever prescriptions they give me, get discharged and go home, no money spent.
Depends on who you're seeing, what time, etc. for a GP you're waiting as long as the ones in front of you take. I actually don't mind that so much, in my case it's because my regular gp hates metrics and doesn't give a fat shit what the clinic wants. He takes as long as is needed with each patient (and bills them all as standard consults) Unfortunately he also sees a lot of little old ladies, so sometimes it blows out.
Recently found out we were inadvertently exposed to a shitton of lead dust. Monday we decided to get tested, yesterday (Tuesday) morning i got the consult, gp wrote me up the paperwork, I scooted the while four meters to the phlebotomist, they took blood and urine, should hear back today /tomorrow, already received my medicare refund. Same with hubs, although he tacked on getting his flu/rsv and latest covid vaccinations done at the same time. Australia here for the record.
Depends on what I'm going to the Dr for. If it's a physical injury that's bearable but not going away I can get an opinion from a pharmacist first then go to a Dr if they recommend, if it's something like a chest infection or other illness I can call a non emergencies line to get a Dr's opinion and they might ask me to come in for a physical checkup. If it's something more urgent than that then I guess just turn up at A&E and probably spend a few hours waiting in triage till there's a Dr who can see me.
The NHS is really struggling so I try to avoid going to the Dr for minor stuff but most of the time when I've deemed it big enough to need to see a Dr it's been pretty smooth for me. Only time I've had problems was when I injured my knee and couldn't walk properly then got bounced around for months after my x-ray showed that I hadn't fractured it, I was supposed to get a scan to check if it was muscle damage and when I turned up for said scan they just had a physio therapist tell me I need to walk on it more to exercise the muscles in my kneecap after the swelling from the initial damage weakened them.
Canada... Depends what kind of visit really. I captain a few rec teams, so breaks or dislocations, we'll go to emergency, get triaged and wait for a bit.
If it's somwthing I'd like to get checked out but not urgent, I'll schedule an appointment with my family dr, might take a week or 2?
For something sooner, I'll go to one of the several walk in clinics nearby. Wait time really varies but generally pretty quick as long as I get there a little early.
Italy
If it is a routine visit, one week. If you are sick a prescription is done via phone, you will find your needed medications already in the pharmacy or it will be coming in 3 days max. Your health records, allergies and needs are already in the doctor's database and your prescription will account for that.
Practices done in public infrastructure is free, and most presciption medications are too,
But we do have a very serious wait time problem with specialist visits. In the worst cases it can take more than a year if you need special visitations. There just aren't enough medics specialized to fill those positions, and who is available prefers less stressful and overworked positions.
Honestly depends.
If it's life or death urgent, an ambulance arrives, takes you away and with any luck, fix you right up. Visitors will likely have to pay to park at the hospital, and that will be your biggest expense. When my dad had a cardiac arrest, it was during covid, so the parking was free. The biggest expense was cleaning his blood off the carpets and putting their cat in the cattery for a week.
If it's something non-urgent, and the cause isn't immediately found by a doctor, then you might go on a waiting list and be seen in a few months maybe. And even then it might not get sorted. It's not like House.
The most annoying bit is the 8am phone roulette to try and get an appointment.
