イギリスの病院事情 パートⅡ The medical system in the UK : PartⅡ

先日夫が手術をしました。病院は自宅から車で３時間ほどの距離です。お腹に穴を空ける３時間の大きな手術なのに言い渡されたスケジュールは
「手術当日朝７時半に病院入り→午後１時に手術→翌日朝１０時に退院（誰かに車で迎えに来てもらえるように手配すること）」
翌日に退院！！日本では絶対考えられません。でもちゃんと理由があって
①受ける手術は回復が早い　②自宅で療養可能、世話できるつれあいがいる　③予算削減
ということです。イギリスのＮＨＳ（Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ　Ｈｅａｌｔｈ　Ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ）の病院は医療を受ける際は無料。費用は国民の税金から賄われているためできるだけ早く自宅に帰れるようにするわけです。ベットも他の患者さんのために確保しなければなりません。日本とは随分違いますね。驚きです。

The other day my husband had an operation at a hospital which was about three hours away by car. Although he was having a major operation lasting three hours and needing holes in his belly, the expected schedule was ;
Come to hospital at 7.30 am on the op day
Op at 1.00 am
Discharge by 10.00 am the next day (Arrange someone to give a lift back home)
Leaving hospital the day after the operation would be incredible in Japan. The reason for the tight schedule was ;
1, Expectation of quick recovery after the operation
2, Practically possible to convalescence at home-there is someone to look after the patient
3, Cost reduction
In the UK, people can get free treatment at NHS (National Health Service) hospitals. The cost is met out of general taxation. So the NHS try to help patients to go back home as soon as practicable to cut down the cost and to guarantee beds for others.
That's very different from Japanese hospitals, which surprised me.

夫曰く家にいる方がよっぽど安全で、病院には細菌が蔓延しているだろうし、病室では夜はうるさくて眠れないこともあるし、帰れるなら家が一番とのこと。確かにその通り。 日本でももう少し早く退院できるようにした方がいいかもしれません。国の医療費予算も個人の支出も節約できます。病院側はもうからなくなる し大事をとって長く入院させたいかもしれませんが。

My husband said that it was best to be at home and much safer than to stay in hospital. There are many germs in hospitals and patients sometimes cannot sleep because of noise in their wards. I agree with the approach. I think Japanese hospitals could discharge earlier. It would save the national budget for medical service and also patients' own money. Although they would want people to stay there longer to avoid serious consequences or to make money.

さて手術翌日、歩きまわるのは難しいと判断されて結局翌々日の退院となりました。今は自宅療養中。早く通常に戻れるといいですね。

The day after his operation, he was assessed. It was concluded that he was not ready and having difficulty in walking around and so he was released the day after. Now he is convalescing at home. Hope he recovers soon!