SwissMediKids

We came on Sunday April 10th around 10.30 am and were told to come back at 12.00 when a doctor could see our little daughter. At 12 o'clock, they were all surprised to see us again, no appointment had been made and we had to wait again about an hour and a half sitting in an overcrowded room with lots of other patients. The doctor saw us after this long waiting time for maybe 10', ordered a test, and we left over 5 hours after first entering the permanence, after waiting for over half an hour just for the bill (they refused to send us a bill, despite us telling them we had to catch a plane soon, in fact they made you feel like a potential thief, which was unpleasant). As a result, our family of eight nearly missed the plane and the trip became very stressful, and we had to be loud with the receptionist to make her do the bill after half an hour (!), a service you get within a couple of minutes at Arzthaus (which, unlike Swiss Medical Kids, we can definitely recommend).

The doctor prescribed a drug that three Zurich pharmacies, incl. at Zurich Airport, did not even carry - she was evidently of Eastern European origin so probably did not know drugs available in Switzerland. As a result, we had to take the plane without the prescribed drugs (but of course had paid for the prescription!). That was a problem as we were flying to England which does not recognise Swiss medical prescriptions. The bill came to CHF 270, which we felt was way overpaid. No excuse for anything. The whole visit was a nightmare and we would not recommend the Zurich Medi Kids permanence to anyone but to someone accustomed to the poor service level of a British NHS A&E and willing to pay for it.

As we are quite often in Switzerland, we will tell our friends about this disappointing experience. And if we were still paying into a Swiss medical insurance, we'd tell our friends to look no further to understand why medical premiums are exploding in Switzerland - half a page of line items/costs for 10' of a doctor (who spent most of her time typing on her computer) and a standard streptococcus test...