Fill English prescriptions in Beijing

[ZC]

Hello all! I am planning on spending some time in Beijing this Summer, does anyone familiar with the area know where I can have prescriptions that are written in English filled at? Thanks!

[imron]

I would not rely on the Chinese medical system accepting a prescription from another country.

 

Bring whatever medication you need with you.

[Flickserve]

Go to an expat clinic and see a doctor there. 

[roddy]

It might even be something that's available over the counter in China. First preference would be to bring a supply for your entire stay, especially if it's just the summer. 

[ChTTay]

Agreed. Bring a supply of what you need. 

 

It’s not guaranteed the drug will be available in China either.

 

Otherwise, contact an expat hospital like  United Family Hospital. The one in Beijing is first class.

[DavyJonesLocker]

There were several good international hospitals and clinics in Beijing that have pharmacys inside with US, EU medicines. Several Japanese and Koreans ones too that speak English. Sometimes different brand names but active ingredients are the same.

Having said that I never go to these places. I always go to a Chinese hospital. They are good and MUCH cheaper but if you are just there for the summer, the easiest is to bring them medicine with you. 

[ChTTay]

36 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

Having said that I never go to these places. I always go to a Chinese hospital. They are good and MUCH cheaper

 

This is a bold claim! I’ve found Chinese hospitals to be massively variable and how good they are usually depends on what’s wrong with you. If the doctor can diagnose it within 1 minute and it’s an entirely obvious issue then they’re usually okay. For instance, I have had food poisoning afew times and each time I went to a Chinese hospital. It was fine. I have also been for a lung infection that was giving me a fever. 

 

For anything more complex I find the doctors here just don’t want to listen. Or they listen then dismiss it as something else or easily solvable. My friend is a doctor and did an elective in wuhan. His main comment was that they used overly expensive tests for simple issues. Otherwise the standard of care was good at his hospital. 

 

Another issue I have is having to get up stupidly early to go get a ticket (挂号) to see a doctor. If you need a test, you go and queue to pay for it, then go queue to have it, then finally queue to take the results back to the doctor. If you need medicine it’s more queuing.  

 

There is a hospital in Beijing Wangfujing that has a decent international section. They let you ring for an appointment and doctors speak some English.

[ZC]

Thanks all!!

 

I guess I meant in Beijing this summer compared to in Shanghai the rest of the time!  

 

 

[roddy]

1 minute ago, ChTTay said:

There is a hospital in Beijing Wangfujing that has a decent international section.

I think that'll be Xiehe, a little along from Wangfujing at Dongdan.

[ChTTay]

Aye that’s it. You can walk from either station but Dongdan is closer. Haven’t been there in years but I had a small procedure done there and it was fine! 

[DavyJonesLocker]

 

1 hour ago, ChTTay said:

This is a bold claim! I’ve found Chinese hospitals to be massively variable and how good they are usually depends on what’s wrong with you. If the doctor can diagnose it within 1 minute and it’s an entirely obvious issue then they’re usually okay. For instance, I have had food poisoning afew times and each time I went to a Chinese hospital. It was fine. I have also been for a lung infection that was giving me a fever. 

 

 

Well yes your correct ChTTay! I should clarify, there are some good hospitals in Beijing (along with a pile of disastrous ones). I think I know far too many foreign people that seem to trash everything about China and never go to a Chinese hospital. A friend os mine is going to an american ones and has paid $15,000+ for something that could be done for a 1000 or so in a Chinese one. 

 

Some good ones are: xiehe 协和医院 as roddy said. They have an international center, Other good ones are 北京大学第三元医院， 中国人们解放军总医院， 北京天坛医院， 北京宣武医院 ， 中日医院

 

see http://www.pumch.cn/en.html is also a highly rated one

 

I checked the above with my wechat group (all chinese and mostly Beijingers ) and after much discussion (as always!) the above is what they came up it 

 

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

2 hours ago, ChTTay said:

His main comment was that they used overly expensive tests for simple issues. Otherwise the standard of care was good at his hospital. 

 

Another issue I have is having to get up stupidly early to go get a ticket (挂号) to see a doctor. If you need a test, you go and queue to pay for it, then go queue to have it, then finally queue to take the results back to the doctor. If you need medicine it’s more queuing.  

 

i had an infection last year, i got a small scratch but after a week the area became very  swollen and painful. I went with my friend to haidian yiyuan (I think thats what its called). I had blood test, xrays, ultrasound. It involved a lot of going to different departments but at of the day it as only 800 kuai or so including the medicine. An international hospital would cost near ten times that. i was given antibotics and all went fine. 

 

The is a lot of admin with Chinese hospitals and you need to find the different department yourself so its not easy to navigate, hence if your Chinese is limited, its best to bring a friend. 

 

Doctors and nurses bedside manner is well..... uniquely Chinese. 

 

Also expect when seeing a doctor, getting a tetanus shot in the posterior or whatever,  for random people to be standing in the door way looking at you and commenting. 

 

 

[imron]

15 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

I had blood test, xrays, ultrasound

Lucky it wasn't a big scratch!  Then you might have needed an MRI, and possibly a saline solution drip feed as well.

[roddy]

21 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

see http://www.pumch.cn/en.html is also a highly rated one

That's 协和医院 - English name is Peking Union Medical College Hospital. I was about to tell you it has a good reputation as it is effectively Peking University's medical school, but while fact-checking I found I was wrong, it's actually affiliated with Tsinghua. 

 

I also found that it was for a time called the Anti-Imperialist Hospital, so if you're an imperialist it might not be ideal...

[DavyJonesLocker]

7 hours ago, roddy said:

 

I also found that it was for a time called the Anti-Imperialist Hospital, so if you're an imperialist it might not be ideal...

 

If I am that sick i would be anything they want me to be 

 

It seems from what I can gather that if you find one of the many military hospitals around China.

 

7 hours ago, imron said:

Lucky it wasn't a big scratch!  Then you might have needed an MRI, and possibly a saline solution drip feed as well.

 

Good thing about Chinese hospitals is that even if you need a lot of checking and/or treatment its pretty cheap compared to hospitals in Europe, USA etc. 

 

 

[Flickserve]

9 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

an infection last year, i got a small scratch but after a week the area became very  swollen and painful. I went with my friend to haidian yiyuan (I think thats what its called). I had blood test, xrays, ultrasound.

 

Overkill unless the scratch was in a "sensitive area". 

 

lucky it was cheap.

 

I have heard many times that the quality of care is too variable in China. Many people come down from China to HK for consistency of medical care. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

10 minutes ago, Flickserve said:

Overkill unless the scratch was in a "sensitive area". 

 

lucky it was cheap.

 

I have heard many times that the quality of care is too variable in China. Many people come down from China to HK for consistency of medical care. 

 

Not when it swelled up the size of a balloon and knee started to go numb a week later No idea, not a doctor. 

 

I'd say the people that go to HK for medical treatment and a minuscule percentage of the population. I think its just paranoid foreigners (which include every foreigner I know there ) that go to HK. in my view the key point is that you need a recommendation of where to go and a translator if necessary. I wouldn't elect to have laser eye surgery in China but Chinese medicine is a core part of their culture and certainly well respected. 

[ChTTay]

I’d say at least go to an international section of a Chinese hospital.