号贩子

[Kenny同志]

Is a person a "scalper" when he or she resells a ticket for an appointment with a doctor at a much higher price?

By the way, do you need a ticket to see a doctor in your country?

[skylee]

Ticket scalpers / ticket touts, ticket scalping syndicate etc.

We call these people 黃牛黨. But hardly anyone would trade tickets for seeing doctors (probably because it is not necessary). People usually tout tickets of sold-out concerts, football matches, etc.

[rezaf]

In China I have heard about it but have never seen it myself but I have seen those tickets being given to patients who have guanxi. Probably this thing is mostly limited to China because of the population and the inadequate medical system. Sometimes patients need to wait for a year or two to see some famous doctors. Just imagine someone has cancer and has tried everything else without success. I am pretty sure he will be willing to buy that ticket at any price to see the best doctor as soon as possible. Sometimes even for seeing some average 特需門診/專家門診 doctors, patients need to come to the hospital at 3~4am and line up. Of course in this kind of situation there are always some people who would rip them off.

[Kenny同志]

I mean whether 号贩子 who operate in a hospital can be called "scalpers".

[rezaf]

Don't they already call them "hospital scalpers" in the news?

[imron]

Depends if you are reading news in English or in Chinese.

I think it's acceptable to call them scalpers, although because this phenomenon isn't so common overseas (at least not in English speaking countries), people might not completely understand the context.

[Kenny同志]

I have seen the term used in China's media a couple of times, but I haven't in western media.

[roddy]

I can't see what else you'd call them, but it'd need a bit of explanation in a hospital context.

In the UK you need to first see your GP and if the GP thinks it necessary they'll arrange an appointment with a hospital specialist, or for further tests. You wouldn't have a ticket - you'd be given an appointment (which may be some time away) but you can't give it to anyone else. You can often get faster treatment by going private though.

[Kenny同志]

谢谢同志们！

I will add some explanation.

[skylee]

OK I think this is what I don't understand. As roddy said, medical appointments are supposed to be personal and non-transferable. So are those medical tickets freely transferable, with no names on it? When you go to a hospital to register for an appointment, the hospital will just ask you to pay for the registration, but won't ask you who you are?

[roddy]

There's probably a number of ways it could work, bearing in mind the the hospital is quite possibly in on the deal. The actual mechanics of it I don't know, but it's been in the news quite a lot lately.

[Kenny同志]

So are those medical tickets freely transferable, with no names on it?

Yes, they are.

When you go to a hospital to register for an appointment, the hospital will just ask you to pay for the registration, but won't ask you who you are?

Yes.