JANUARY 29 — Something that people expressed to me about switching to public healthcare, that I experienced myself, was fear.

What were people afraid of?

They were afraid of being judged, of being told that they “had money”, that they would be turned away.

I will tell you that the worst experience of making the change will probably be your first time at the hospital registration desk.

Get past that and everything else is less terrible in comparison.

No, it’s not actually that bad.

Public hospital waiting rooms get crowded very quickly; sometimes by 8.30am there is nowhere left to sit and with how full and busy it gets, it can get very overwhelming for everyone, staff and patients alike.

People get antsy, the staff are trying to juggle multiple numbers, and the system is outdated and confusing.

There isn’t a clear step-by-step diagram anywhere.

You will have to eyeball the signs, ask the staff and hope you’re doing the right thing.

Chaotic, disorganised, tiresome, tiring but it’s just part and parcel of how things are and a hurdle for you to “get into the system”.

I kept hearing the phrase repeated to me, by doctors, patients, wannabe patients and what it means is just that — to be on file as a patient being treated at your public hospital of choice.

Let me explain to you the most ideal way to get into the system for the long-run.

Do not take the so-called easier path

In the age of AI we keep being told to take the easier path, to let something else do the heavy lifting, to do things quicker for supposed efficiency.

The efficient way to enter the public healthcare system from private is to get a referral from your private healthcare doctor but I will tell you that while it is simpler and quicker, it will in the long run come with extra costs you will not like.

Just like AI.

Being referred from a private institution is like a red flag that tells the system to charge this person differently.

You are already being set on the path of “possibly can pay more” when the reason you asked to switch is because you can’t.

The harder, longer, messier path is to take a day off and get to your nearest Klinik Kesihatan which is not open on weekends or public holidays.

Many take breaks for lunch so no, you can’t just pop by one on your own lunch break.

Consider it a quest of sorts, make it your goal or game-winner to get that precious document — a referral letter from your KK doctor to the public hospital of your choice.

At every step, when they ask why you’re here, just say you need a referral letter.

Bring your medical results, explain that you wish to switch.

I wish I could take your hands in mine and comfort you, to assure you this: no one will turn you away.

No one would willingly spend hours in a busy, cramped public healthcare clinic for a precious letter if they did not need to do it.

Do not fear judgement or accusations, instead, think of it as your fight, your advocating for yourself.

No comfort to be found

While I expected it to be crowded and uncomfortable, I was still woefully unprepared for how tiring the experience would be at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital.

Having to stand for an hour waiting for a blood draw drains you more than the actual taking of blood.

I’m old enough to be a veteran of many blood draws and unfortunately I experienced for the first time the process being discomfitingly painful.

There’s little time for reassurances or more gentle pricks — efficient stabbings are the order of the day instead.

What would it be like for far older patients with thinner, more fragile skin?

Have they just gotten so used to it, or is pain just part and parcel of the routine of being old and sick?

For my next visit I am bringing my one cane chair so I will always have somewhere to sit and enough snacks as well as a power bank.

In a public hospital you don’t have a lot of options for food or places to charge your phone.

What I miss most about my time in private healthcare was easy access to seats and charging outlets.

I don’t even want to ask friends or family to keep me company because there aren’t enough places to sit and no spaces for them to work remotely, unless of course I happen to get warded.

The only real comfort about public healthcare is at least for most things you won’t be paying a lot and you get a real understanding about why taxes matter.

A lot of things aren’t covered in public healthcare as I found out from needing to order RM21,600 worth of my targeted therapy drug.

My doctor seemed almost desperate in his trying to make sure if I had the means to cover it because the government couldn’t.

I know it seems like small comfort but my white blood cell booster jabs cost more than RM2,000 but are subsidised.

Those jabs make sure my chemotherapy sessions go on as scheduled, without my needing to take a break to build up my white blood cell count.

Our healthcare system needs to evolve with the times but I just hope that in efforts to streamline and make things more efficient, that we don’t forget that healthcare should most of all centre people — including the ones who keep it running.

Let’s hope the Year of the Snake will be one where we shed old skins and embrace new possibilities and technologies without forgetting who they were made to serve — us, not the machines.

As my Hakka ancestors would say, 新年快乐 or Happy New Year!