The "Paracetamol Myth" - Polish people hesitate to visit UK doctors.

Why...? o_O


Defenitely not. You want to get out of a Polish hospital as soon as your condition/health allows for that lol Apart, maybe (to some extent, at least) from elderly people who live alone - at the hospital they have company then.


Sanitarium isn't the same as hospital though and Bobko was asking about hospitals.

It's egregiously bad however at least you can have food brought in or order it for delivery to the ward.


It's not a courtroom and he mentioned spas. Very relevant and interesting too, The spa system is one of the more specific characteristics of the Polish system and generally works well.

He asked: "Do Poles check into hospitals as if it were a spa in the south of France?"
His question was pretty straightforward and your answer was somewhat confusing, so I cleared it out.

You wrote this...:


...which isn't really the case. I mean, sometimes it happens that someone isn't well yet and some people have connections and they pull some strings to get the needed care for longer. One of the most shocking cases I've heard of is the one of Witek's husband lying for months on ICU. But generally, judging by what Bobko wrote, in Poland it's different than in RuSSia - Poles don't treat hospitals like some spa. I'd say it's the sanitariums mentioned by you that are treated in this way, if anything.

This has to be a Communist Bloc leftover. Sanatoriums are still a big thing throughout the CIS. Thermal baths, "medicinal" muds, salt caverns, etc.

However, it's also normal for Russians to say: "I'm checking into the hospital for a week, to have a battery of tests run on my cardio-vascular system". If you did that in the states, you'd be looking at $30-40K if paying out of pocket.

The difference between the spas in Poland and hospitals (which in some places they'd be referred to) is one of nomenclature. I've been to one myself and liked it. Some employ nurses and do quite a range of treatments.

String pulling does happen; I've known doctors who've had to wangle a stay for themselves.

Do you know the spa at Ciechocinek?

Sadly no (but you probably weren't asking me).

I'm 34, and feel a little self conscious of going to spas. That doesn't mean I don't like it. When I travel alone, it's my guilty pleasure - especially if it's some Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental type place.

Usually, I do the rounds on the steam room, dry sauna, cold plunge - then go in for a massage. That's it. The guys that go in for manicures, facials, cryotherapies, etc - still judge them (even though my first boss was like that).

Best spas I've ever been to were in Japan. Never been to Baden Baden, or any in the South of France.

Russian sanatoriums in the Caucasus would give a lot of the proper "spas" a run for their money.

In New York State we have the historic Saratoga Springs, and less well known places like Mohonk. They're kinda dilapidated, however - as if it's still the 1920s.

I was thinking more about traditional spas like the 'sanatoria' in Poland that people get sent to. They do some amazing things. I was wondering if another poster knew that one which is probably my favourite.


Always good. I used to go sometimes in Turkey and also the UK before that. They always make people feel better.

Every time I've Googled this stuff, it seemed that the actual academic literature doesn't support any claims of actual health benefits. Instead, it's more about the risks... But I know what I know, and I definitely feel better.

My friends, especially certain, specific persons, usually excoriate me for my sybaritic tendencies. It may be bad... but I don't think it's the kind of sin people make it out to be.

For one - it provides employment.

@Bobko, I guess it's the same in Poland then - "sanatoriums" are still a thing here too.


...is that hospitals are for diagnosing and treating people and saving lives, while spas offer some treatments that can improve your health/condition somewhat and help you relax, but that's it. I'd say that in Poland the word "spa" is often associated with beautifying treatments and relaxation. If you want to improve your health (and relax) you go to a "sanatorium".


Yes, as I already wrote - it does happen, but if it is needed. As in - it's about health and not about staying at the hospital, because you "enjoy being looked after", as Bobko put it. And you would have to pull some strings (or pay a big bribe, I guess) in order to "overstay" in a Polish hospital.


Only from the "Maxi Kaz" song :))) ;D

I think the only sanatoria places that I visited were Busko-Zdrój and Krynica-Zdrój, but I've been there as a tourist, not a patient.

Jon, you should know this... When I think of those friends mentioned above, I often remember the Monty Python sketch about the four Yorkshiremen.

You know this sketch?

Very well indeed. It's a sketch that launched many quotes.

And I've known people like that; Palin certainly bad them on a particular type.


There can often be quite an overlap in some places and not all hospitals of course are general hospitals.


You had employment?

We had to get up at 1am every day, walk a thousand miles, clean the equator with our tongues and drink from a puddle before going to sleep at 3am.

Luxury!

When I said employment, I really meant slavery.

We had to get up at 12 am, half an hour before bed, and a 1,000 miles was only the trip one way. Puddle you say? We'd be so lucky to drink out of a puddle. No, in our case we had to drink from a septic tank through rolled up newspaper. Then our father would come home, and beat us on the head with broken bottle.

But we were happy then. Try explaining that to the young people these days.

They will accept everything, but instead of a newspaper they want a smartphone

That still seems an odd term to me. Reminds of when I went to stay with a friend in Raba Wyżna. I went to her parent's house but didn't get to meet her mother because she was at a sanitorium. Somewhere in or near Rabka-Zdrój if I remember rightly. I didn't ask anything else because in the UK a sanitorium was more like a hospital that treated certain diseases e.g TB, and where patients convalesced after. Pretty sure they don't exist these days.

I remember that in the UK paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin were very cheap, cheaper than in Germany or even Poland. There was definitely no need to go to the doctor for this. Are these drugs still so cheap today?

Almost free,

They can only sell them in 12a now to deter suicide attempts however they're always a quid a pack.

Much the same in Dealz now in Poland.


You'd spend longer telling the receptionist your name than buying them at a corner shop.