In relative terms, it’s spectacular

Two weeks ago, I got a bacterial infection on one of my fingers (paronychia—don’t google it). I ignored the problem for a couple of days, then when it started to become unignorable, I finally looked for a dermatologist at 7pm on Wednesday night.

I found one on Google Maps that was open until 9pm. I rocked up, sans appointment, and saw a dermatologist within 10 minutes. A few minutes after that, the on-site pharmacist was dispensing my antibiotics.

The whole visit took around 20 minutes and cost NT$200 (NZ$10).

I’ve been returning every few days for progress checks, and so far so good.

Meanwhile, three days ago, I woke up with a brutally sore throat. After an 11am meeting, just as my nose was starting to run, I used Google Maps to find the nearest family doctor. I registered on arrival (speaking Chinese with the staff, who kindly completed the Chinese-language paperwork for me), and again saw a doctor within 10 minutes.

She gave me a COVID test (negative), then prescribed a suite of five medicines, which the on-site pharmacist brought to me in the waiting room.

This time the total cost was NT$150 (NZ$7.50).

Reflecting on the convenience and efficiency of these visits, I decided to check how long it takes to see a dermatologist in New Zealand.

Things aren’t so good there:

• 37% of new patients wait more than four months (RNZ)
• Te Waipounamu / the South Island (where I used to live) has one public service dermatologist for 1.3 million people (The Press)

As I’ve mentioned before, Taiwan’s public health system isn’t perfect—but in relative terms, it’s spectacular.