Krabi Hospital denies allegations of ‘ignoring’ injured Brit

KRABI: Hospital officials yesterday denied reports that they ‘ignored’ the condition of a British man who was brought in with severe head injuries following a motorbike accident in Krabi last week.

The accident occurred in front of Tesco Lotus in Krabi Town. The victim, 35, was named only as ‘Jo’ in a social media post shared by his friend, Facebook user ‘Toon Tosapol Chairit’.

“The victim was taken to Krabi Hospital by Krabi Pitakpracha Foundation rescue workers at about 10pm on June 1. He was admitted to a shared room until the next day when his family showed up, nearly 16 hours later. They were worried that he was not being treated well and wished to move him to a private hospital in Phuket,” wrote Mr Toon.

“Jo was moved out of Krabi Hospital on the afternoon of June 2. When he was admitted to hospital in Phuket, doctors said that he needed 16 stitches. Why did Krabi Hospital wait 16 hours to give him stitches while he lay there bleeding? As his friend, I want to know why,” he added.

He also alleged that doctors at Krabi Hospital could not identify the victim’s injury and that only doctors in Phuket were able to determine that he had a skull injury and urgently needed to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Mr Jo is reportedly out of danger now, and Krabi Hospital officials have responded to the backlash on social media.

“When the victim was admitted, we were more focused on internal bleeding or brain injuries, which is why we did not immediately administer stitches. We were also worried about the dirty wound causing infection, so we tried to treat his internal injuries first. Even though he was moved out, we have continuously followed up about his condition with doctors in Phuket and hope he makes a full recovery soon,” said Krabi Hospital Director Supoj Pukawluan.

Allegations were also levied against Phuket International Hospital last month, officials of which then held a press conference to clarify that they did not refused treatment to an injured British traveller after his mother told British media that the hospital “left him to die” (story here).

— Kritsada Mueanhawong