Here in Ireland, it’s often faster to go to the hospital emergency department by hopping on a flight to Belgium or Germany than to drive to a Dublin hospital. Before Covid, it used to be cheaper as well.
Comment on Welcome to the Age of Paid Social Media
HidingCat@kbin.social 1 year agoDepending on where you are and where you're going, an airplane ride isn't that expensive. Just a matter of why you need to do so, and if you're willing to put up with budget airline issues. Oh and I guess the carbon footprint.
Bruncvik@lemmy.world 1 year ago
HidingCat@kbin.social 1 year ago
Wow, that I didn't know. What happened to Irish healthcare?
Bruncvik@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Nothing out of the ordinary, just very long wait times in the emergency room. Earlier this year, I got hit by a car, suffered a concussion and spent 12 hours in the waiting room. I was in no condition to travel then. However, a few years ago my wife suffered a chronic condition, which sent her to A&E trice. The first time, she was in the waiting room for 16 hours. The second time, she booked the first available morning flight to the continent and went straight to the emergency room. It took her seven hours (including the three hours between booking the flight and flying out) to see a doctor. The charge in Irish A&E is €100 per visit; the cost of flight and taxis was €90. We used to say that Ryanair was the largest healthcare provider in Ireland. Not anymore, as the prices went up, but it’s still worth it, especially in the case of chronic, un- or mis-diagnosed diseases.
HidingCat@kbin.social 1 year ago
Thanks for explaining, I know public healthcare is always stretched but it's amazing you can just take a plane and use another country's healthcare and it's faster.
Do you have to pay different prices for Belgium or Germany or do you not have to since it's all EU?
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Dunno your financial situation, but a lot of people are having a hell of a time affording groceries, gas, rent, and utility bills, let alone a plane trip or even a vacation right now. And as for the carbon footprint, typically flying is more carbon friendly than driving somewhere at scale (a plane with ~100 people as opposed to ~50-100 cars on the road).