Valle D'Aosta Regional Hospital

This review is about my experience with my husband at the hospital in Aosta not the valley in general . .

A website with a map of the hospital is at http://www.paginegialle.it/pg/cgi/mappe/build_map.cgi? cl=2&cc=286129140&iq=000192168415019631000001&cb=0
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My impression of the Regional Hospital, Aosta, Italy
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While we were on holiday camping in the Aosta valley ...
...He suffered for 3 days in pain every time he tried to wee and on the third day he said "I am not getting any better Lets go to the hospital, I need something to stop the pain"
We found the hospital very easily but there did not seem to be any parking at the hospital when we tried to park somewhere we thought was ok we got moved on there was a public car park just on the other side of the road opposite the hospital. This cost 50 ... more

This review is about my experience with my husband at the hospital in Aosta not the valley in general . .

A website with a map of the hospital is at http://www.paginegialle.it/pg/cgi/mappe/build_map.cgi? cl=2&cc=286129140&iq=000192168415019631000001&cb=0
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My impression of the Regional Hospital, Aosta, Italy
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While we were on holiday camping in the Aosta valley in Italy my husband developed a urine infection.
He suffered for 3 days in pain every time he tried to wee and on the third day he said "I am not getting any better Lets go to the hospital, I need something to stop the pain"
We found the hospital very easily but there did not seem to be any parking at the hospital when we tried to park somewhere we thought was ok we got moved on there was a public car park just on the other side of the road opposite the hospital. This cost 50 cents to park for an hour.

The hospital was a middle sized oldish building did not look particularly modern from the outside

We found the right entrance for A & E; we were surprised how small the reception room was just a desk with a receptionist and about 30 chairs. When we went at about 9.30 in the morning there were about 18 people waiting. Later in the day. It got a lot busier people waiting in A&E waiting room and in the corridor outside
The receptionist had little or no English but we managed to fill out a form they had it in different languages.
Hubby was accessed and given a no emergency prioritization wristband the lowest of about 5 categories from nearly dead to only just poorly. He had to show his passport and a NHS European health insurance card which he got at a u k post office.

We sat and waited for about 5 minutes, hubby said I feel sick he looked as if he was about to throw up. I looked around to see if I had a plastic carrier bag handy, then I looked at him to ask if he was ok and he slumped in his chair went a deathly grey pale colour his eyes went to one side. I noticed he was still breathing ( relief) we were immediately in front of the reception desk I called "can someone help me please". The receptionist and another man helped me lay hubby on floor raised his legs. One of the other casualty patients a man with a bandaged leg spoke some English and translated a little for me .My hubby regained consciousness after a few moments and when he woke he was confused. When he was able too he was assisted to lie down on a trolley. He was wheeled into a corridor to wait I had to stand no where to sit.
I think this must have speeded us up the priority waiting time. A woman who was also waiting with her husband could speak English and helped translate explained a little to us.

When my husband went in to see the Doctor I went in too. It was a bit difficult as only speaking about 3 words of Italian and the lady doctor speaking only a little English we struggled with a mixture of English and French as I can speak and understand a little French better than Italian. My husband is a biologist so found it easier to use the Latin names to describe the problem. .
My husband was examined and put on a drip as the Dr Thought he was dehydrated. Because it hurt to pee hubby had not been drinking much. Our DR called in another DR with better English
Hubby was given a though examination. She felt the area around his kidneys then put her rubber gloves on and examined his penis and glands. The Doctor explained she was going to examine his rectum so hubby rolled over and she stuck a finger up. Then our DR called in another DR with better English who shook my husbands hand and introduced himself. Hubby said to me seems like they are going to tell me the worst now, as don't DR's on the telly shake your hand when they are going to give you bad news. However the other also doctor stuck his finger up my husband where the sun does not shine and they explained that they could feel small polyps which would need looking at by our own Doctor when we got home.

And they thought the pain with urinating was possibly a urine infection that was causing the problem, but it could also be kidney stones or a fatal kidney problem.
Hubby still on the trolley was wheeled into a corridor to wait. I stood again. Husband was given a CAT scan to eliminate the kidney stones and other kidney problem. I must admit I was scared more scared than he was I think all scenarios were going through my head. I was allowed into all the consultations with doctors with my husband not into the scan. He was put on another saline drip and pushed into the corridor near the first DR; s room another corridor to wait. This time he was moved from trolley to wheelchair. Time was pushing on it was about 2.30 pm now. There was a new doctor shifts had changed. We waited about another hour while hubbys drip went into his body.

There was a lot of waiting about in corridors so I had time to notice the building was beginning to age looked a little shabby. Very similar condition to Stole Mandeville hospital where I sometimes go. The building not quite as modern as stoke.
The general Ambiance of the hospital where we waited and was examined did not seem as clinical as Stoke. The atmosphere a lot more relaxed. Yes people were waiting a long time, (have to wait ages in Stoke too) the staff seemed efficient.
All the DR'S and medical staff seemed nice they were friendly and explained as well as they could.

My husband was given the best care and the Doctors obviously explored all possibilities to find out what was wrong with my husband, we thought they were being over cautious and checked out all options.
Now were called in to see Dr again and we were reassured that the CAT scan showed nothing. There were no kidney stones no other major problems. They thought it an infection so gave us a prescription to get at the pharmacy. I had to give my hubby an antibiotic injection in his bum (the fleshy part just below his hip) then he had tablets to take for 6 days. Hubby was also told to drink 2 litres of water a day. That was the reaon why he fainted he had not been drinking enough so please do remember how important it ios to drink 2 litres a day( not alchohol though)
We go out of the hospital at about ½ 4 -5 o'clock in the late afternoon

Now the painful bit we thought. Payment we had heard tales of charges in other countries hospitals, and he had used quite a lot of expensive equipment. But there was no charge as we had obviously given them the right insurance card and info. We found a pharmacist and thought the antibiotics would be expensive they cost Euros 38.00 about 30 pounds I think.
Fortunately we were not due to come home for 5 days as hubby was driving us home through France we knew it would be about 12 hours and he was not fit to drive that long till then.
Overall we were impressed with the care, consideration and treatment my husband received

I looked at the website http://www.chirurgia-aosta.org/english/structure.html and find out this hospital had good equipment including a surgical robot. The Aosta hospital has facilities for diagnosing care of and rehabilitation of illnesses requiring hospital treatment.

The regional hospital Aosta has a good name nationally and internationally for its work in laparoscopic surgery oncology surgery and obesity surgery also video surgery. It has state of the art equipment.

The valley of Aosta is in the Alps many tourists go there some to ski. Snowboard or climb. I noticed in a lot of the skiing and climbing websites it says Aosta hospital is a few minutes away by helicopter if there is an accident.

Although I did not enjoy or want to be in Aosta hospital all day with my husband. I felt the experience not as bad as it might have been elsewhere; if any staffs of the Aosta regional hospital are reading this I offer my thanks for the care and treatment we received. If you are going to this part of Italy although I would not wish you to need to visit this hospital if you do and my and my husbands experience is anything to go by you will get good care.

A map of the region of Aosta is at
http://www.travellingitaly.info/images/valledaosta.gif 

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