If you travel a lot it is handy to have worldwide travel insurance cover which saves you having to stop to buy cover every trip, you can remember your insurance company more easily and it saves the risk of leaving in a hurry and forgetting to insure.
If you are taking a business trip, or hiring a freelance, it's a good idea to be sure the company covers everybody in the group. Then the group leader can phone back to the office for all the details and the full time all day office workers and HR department can deal with paperwork, leaving the families free to do hospital visits and get on with their own lives and work.
When I was sent to Corsica on a travel press trip for Brides magazine, the editor told me that the company was providing insurance. I replied, "No need. I have annual insurance." She told me that her company insisted everybody was covered by their insurance.
In the event, I was knocked down by a car, as a large number of us crossed the road after our coach broke down on the way back to the airport. It was a classic pedestrian accident.
A vehicle breaks down. The people trying to fix the problem or gather their possessions have their mind on the major problem, the broken down vehicle, rather than on the everyday problem or crossing a road safety. Large numbers of people are in the road where one would not moral cross the road, on a busy motorway or the brow of a hill or just over a hilltop.
The company's insurance proved very comprehensive. I was given private hospital treatment. I had a TV in my room. The curtains were so pretty (Sanderson's) that I contacted their housekeeping department and asked to buy the curtains when they were sold off. Many months later I was phoned and bought the crutains and they are still in my home today as a reminder of that time.
Travel Trips
If a group of you are taking a tour of Europe or Malaysia in a car convoy or on motorbikes or any kinds of journey its prudent to know everybody's cover in case of an accident. If you are the organiser or leader of a group, you should know the local hospitals and the medical insurance of everybody and the home phone numbers in case you need to inform families at home of any delay.
Even a simple thing such as a cancelled ferry crossing can cause anxiety. I was on a conference in Indonesia one weekend and a group of about four of the men went off across an island expecting to be back by nightfall. They weren't. I remember one of the other wives phoning my hotel room at about midnight and saying that if I was worried and couldn't sleep she would come to my room or I could come to hers.
Next day the men phoned to say that they had had a series of adventures, ending with driving across the island with a local driver.
Only days later did they reveal assorted en route stresses. The car broke down. It ran out of petrol.
Their driver diverted to his so-called relative's house for a snack and the group were offered food and drink. One of the group cautiously refused the food and drink, just in case it was drugged and they were being set up for a robbery. The rest of the group followed his example.
Meanwhile, back in the safety of a civilised city, what about minor mishaps?
CPF
In Singapore the Permanent Residents are in the national CPF system. They are likely to go to a government hospital such as the Singapore General Hospital. The majority of the cost will come out of the savings scheme they have paid into out of their salary, but they may need to pay for a top-up.
NRIC
To fill in the paperwork they or staff or you need to produce the credit card size NRIC, national card with photo ID. In theory everybody should carry their identity card at all times to produce it when challenged, gain admission to many office blocks, and use it for claiming everything from medical care to lottery prizes and even store card redemptions.
If you are looking for a private hospital your choices include Mount Elizabeth in the centre of the city which is easy to reach for quick admission and follow-ups and visits. from family and friends. Out of town, and perhaps more peaceful, is Gleneagles.
When I go to a new city or new country I like to check out the doctors and dentists and public and private hospitals and keep a note in my diary, well before I need them.
ICE number
You could also add a sticker on the back of your mobile phone the ICE number. If your phone is locked nobody can get into it to phone your family, so you need it written on the outside. ICE is in case of emergency, so your family and colleagues waiting for you to arrive at home or work can be informed of the reason for the delay and come to visit you with clothes and money and messages of goodwill and anything else you might need. ICE was devised by an emergency services worker frustrated by not being able to call relatives to let them know when he had transported somebody to hospital.
The old cliches come to mind. Fore warned is fore armed. Better safe than sorry.
UK Hospitals
If you phone a UK hospital for information, it will only be given out if you are listed as next of kin. You will be asked to provide the name and details of the person you are enquiring about. You end up in a chicken and egg situation. You phone the hospital to ask to speak to somebody. The switchboard ask which ward they are in. Until you speak to them you don't know.
I have had four different relatives in UK hospitals in three or four hospitals over the years. As soon as you get to speak to your relative, or somebody who phones to tell you that your relative is going in for surgery and won't be able to speak to you for so many hours or days, ask which ward they will be in.
I had an uncle in Barnet hospital and he was in three or more different wards. For observation he was in a geriatric ward. After surgery he was moved to intensive care. Then to another ward. He got an infection and was moved to another room for isolation.
The first time he moved I got a shock and thought he had died. You arrive and find an empty bed, or somebody else in the bed. It's surreal.
Serious cases may be sent to a specialist hospital. Infectious cases may be sent to an isolation hospital. Within large hospitals, whether public or private hospitals, other wings or buildings may house private bedrooms, physio departments, outpatients, doctors, dentists, consultants in consulting rooms.
In the UK, Mount Vernon has a separate private hospital in the grounds. By Northwick Park hospital there's another specialist block, St Marks, plus diagnostic centres in what looks like prefabs in car parks.
In the USA I had a problem with a tooth and went to a dentist. I was scared that I would get a huge bill. In the UK a dentist usually insists on checking your whole mouth and identifying which teeth have problems.
In the USA if the dentist I visited had checked my whole mouth I would have had a huge bill, they said. But the billing was for the number of teeth checked. So one tooth checked and sorted was quite a reasonable price. Best to check prices before going for a checkup or filling or cracked tooth. the bill could be a shock or a pleasant surprise.
Glossary
CPF Central Provident Fund (Singapore)
HR Human resources (USA and worldwide; in the UK often called Personnel department)
ICE In case of emergency
NRIC (National Registration Identity Card, Singapore)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Identity_Card
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
