It’s every parent’s nightmare: a trip to the playground turns into a serious injury for your child, and rather than enjoying a fun day out, you’re in an ambulance racing to the hospital. For Anna, it was worse, because paramedics were taking them to a public hospital in Hungary.
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Anna and her child were placed in a room about 25 to 30 meters square (about 325 square feet), with 6 other young patients and 6 parents crammed into it. There was hardly room enough for the 14 of them, let alone staff.
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This was in late May, with the pandemic in full swing. And for Anna the overcrowding was worse as her diabetes makes her more vulnerable to infection. When she entered the hospital, no one had asked about underlying health conditions or made any effort to take Covid precautions.
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When Anna asked about Covid precautions, staff – mostly unmasked – told her that everyone in the room had been tested for the virus. But Anna and her child had not been tested, and asking the – also mostly unmasked – parents revealed that no one else had been tested either.
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So, the 14 of them were crammed into this tiny room. But why? They had extra space: Anna noticed 5 or 6 other rooms on the same floor completely empty.
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Because a government directive had ordered hospitals to empty 60% of beds to prepare for a possible surge of Covid patients. Hospitals across Hungary scrambled to comply. Some abruptly expelled terminally & seriously ill patients without follow-up support.https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/06/hungary-kicks-patients-out-hospitals-prepare-covid-19 …
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The overcrowding was completely unnecessary, a result of the ruling party wanting to be seen to be doing something but, as always, not taking people's rights & needs into account. And this was on top of long-standing poor hygiene issues at Hungary's hospitals. Get ready...
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Poor hospital conditions in Hungary and a lack of basic materials & protocols - like soap and hand sanitizers - contribute to completely preventable hospital infections, leaving many sicker than when they arrived. Or dead. We just did a report on this:https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/04/hungary-health-care-failures-endanger-lives …
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But getting back to Anna... Waiting for a critical operation for a two-and-a-half-year-old under these conditions was a long six hours for both of them. But at least Anna had managed to get toilet paper to bring with her to the hospital. Wait, what?
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Yes, dear reader, hospitals in Hungary do not provide toilet paper. Patients and visitors have to bring their own toilet paper. Along with soap. And cutlery. And drinking cups.
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Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said recently that the Hungarian healthcare system performed “among the best in Europe.” But public hospitals in Hungary don't even provide patients with soap and toilet paper. No one knows what Europe Orbán is talking about.
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Hospitals in Hungary make no secret of this. In fact, they publish online lists of things patients are expected to bring with them. Even if you don't read Hungarian, you can understand "WC papír" here, for example:https://peterfykh.hu/static/altalanos-betegtajekoztato-106291 …
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Another thing hospitals in Hungary routinely don't provide for patients? Medicines. Patients are required to have their prescriptions filled at pharmacies outside the hospital. This makes things very tough for those who don't have a friend or relative or partner near by.
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There was no hot water in the sinks at the Budapest hospital where Anna and her child were either. Not sure how you're suppose to bring that. Maybe bring a camp stove and heat it up yourself?
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The most remarkable thing about Anna’s story, however, is that nothing in it would surprise anyone in Hungary. The public reputation of the country’s hospitals is awful.
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Internationally, some jaws might be dropping as people read this, but in Hungary, people know, even in a pandemic, that they shouldn’t anticipate even passable standards of hygiene or health care.
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Everyone has a right to highest attainable standards of health care. The government of Hungary is failing its people. Everyone in Hungary knows it. Even many supporters of the ruling party would admit it. But the awful situation may not improve until they do so publicly.
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As Anna says: “It’s pretty messed up that there is money for new football stadiums while hospitals rot away.”https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/24/witness-mothers-hungarian-hospital-hell …
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