Health Care In The Czech Republic
INTRODUCTION
Everybody in the Czech Republic has the right to choose a doctor. At present two
types of health facilities operate in this country: state and private ones.
Health care of any type in our country is free of charge thanks the national Health
insurance system. Employers pay health insurance for their employees but everybody can pay
extra money for his/ her health insurance. Private people have to buy their health insurance
themselves.
Medical care is provided for our citizens from the conception to death. There are
medical check ups before the child is born called Prenatal care. After birth the baby follow
maternity ward services, actually Mother and Child Care. All infants are examined and
vaccinated against children´s fatal illnesses. Then comes health care during the pre-school and
school age. Each child should be under medical supervision which means that he or she has to
undergo a series of preventive medical (body examination, eyesight tests, tests of hearing,
urine analysis,…) and dental check ups. At present there are possibilities of regular prevent
medical check ups for adults too. However many people don´t use them. They usually visit
their doctor when they don´t feel well or have a temperature.
When people suffer from health problems they usualy go to the Health centre,
Policlinic, Hospital or to some private doctor. Many factories and officies have their own
doctors.
THE GENERAL PRACTITIONER
The patient in need of medical trearment usually go to see the General Practicioner
(P.G.) in his surgery. It is better to make an appointment with the doctor in his surgery time
(office hours) if the patient want to avoid long waiting in the waiting room which may often
be crowded. Then the nurse says „Next please!“ and invites the patient into the consulting
room. The nurse has to look for the patient´s medical record and wants to see his insurance
card and then ask him to take the temperature (using a thermometer). Than the patient is ready
to enter the surgery.
The doctor must first learn about the common symptoms, the subjectives
manifestations of the patient´s chief complaint. In examining the patient, the doctor proceeds,
as a rule, from the top of the head down the neck, to the chest and abdomen, and finally to the
extremities. The G.P. usually use the four classical methods: inspection (to ascertain visible signs
of the patient´s condition), palpation (to feel tumour, swelling, distension, the presence of tenderness, etc. ),
percussion (tapping the chest or other parts of the body and listening the quality of the note – resonant or dull,
impaired, etc.) and auscultation (to hear chest sounds, irregularity of heart beat, and peristaltic sounds in the
abdominal cavity).
First of all the doctor usually asks the patient what the trouble is and he wants to know
if the patient has temperature, a good appetite and where he feels the pain. Further the doctor
wants the patient to open his mouth and say „Ah“ to see if patient´s tonsils are red. After that
he ask the patient to strip to the waist before he examines patient´s chest. While the doctor
listens the patient´s lungs and heart, the patient has to take a deep breath or stop breathing
according to doctor´s orders. Very often the doctor measures the patient´s blood pressure and
feels the pulse. In case of need the doctor lets to make routine laboratory tests of the patient´s
blood, sputum, pus, urine, or stool, possibly the cerebrospinal fluid.
The examination, together with the patient´s past history and family history, help to
establish a reliable diagnosis and to determine what kind of treatment is called for. Then the
G.P. is in a position to write out a prescription, to recommend bed rest or hospitalization, to
invite the patient for another interview or refer him to a specialist.
Medical suitcase – equipment of the G.P.
Fonendoscope – fonendoskop
Thermometer – teploměr
Syringe sirindž –injekční stříkačka
Tendon hammer – kladívko na zjišťování motorických reflexů
Patellar hammer – kladívko na zjišťování patelárního reflexu
Tongue depressor – „lžíce“ k prohlížení jazyka a zadní oblasti ústní dutiny
Tweezers twi:z s – pinzeta
Scissors – nůžky
Dropper – kapátko
Wisp of cotton wool – vatový tampón
Kidney bowl – miska ledvinovitého tvaru
Specular – dentální zrcátko
Sterilized gloves – sterilní rukavice
Prescription – lékařský předpis