AKH Wien (Medical University of Vienna General Hospital)

"I was admitted with a dislocated shoulder, and from the moment the paramedics dropped me off, I was NEVER in good hands again! My digital X-rays went missing, and after a 3-hour wait, they obviously couldn’t be included in the examination. I got them back couple of weeks later because the ONE colleague was sick who is digitalizing this (what a joke). All follow-up exams had a wait time of about 2 hours, and the exam itself was over in 2 minutes. The so-called shoulder specialist is so incompetent and unfriendly that I don’t know how people like that can practice such an important profession or how anyone is supposed to trust them. My shoulder is still not well after a year, and all because this hospital doesn’t care about its patients. I will now have to painstakingly address my injuries with an orthopedist and will never forgive this hospital for how I was treated—or rather, not treated. P.S.: The physical therapist assigned to me by the hospital always told me I was doing everything wrong, to the point where I eventually didn’t even want to move anymore. Please, let’s get back to some basic humanity here."

"I had an abscess removed and everything was done within an hour, from the first aid visit to the intervention itself. Very efficient and kind staff - with a small exception at the First Aid reception. Special thank you to Dr. Lisa Beckmann, who did a great job at trying to make me feel at ease despite my pain, and her assistant which unfortunately I do not know the name of. Check up went also pretty fast despite a lot of people in the waiting room. Big thank you to the AKH staff!"

"My experience with this hospital was terribly disappointing and blood boiling. After the emergency team brought me to the hospital at 3:30am I had to wait for hours in the lobby to see a doctor. There was no nurse or staff members to check in the patients, this is a crucial step in the medical field around the world. I had a severe allergic reaction that swelled up my throat, face and lips. It was painful to swallow my own saliva and I had a bit of asma attack earlier, this unnecessary delay was just losing precious time to stop the allergy from spreading further. On top of that, after about an hour of waiting in the lobby and I went to ask a staff member about what time a doctor is coming. The staff member at the counter rudely said “I don’t know" with a pissed off face. It‘s a disgrace that‘s how staff members are trained to talk to patients. On my way to the hospital, My partner was not allowed to join the Ambulence while I was taken from home. Later I asked him to come, when I saw that the other patients all had family members with them. Every patient was frustrated from waiting in the lobby for hours and was walking back and forth. There is no ounce of empathy for patients. A normal patient wouldn’t have come to a hospital at 3am, I don‘t why there is no empathy for that. At the end, I waited in the hospital nearly 4-5 hours, just to get the allergy IV. After they IV , I had to hunt down a nurse to remove the cannula by that time it was the staff shift and it took about 15 mins for the other shift members to arrive. (ideally the staff should switch if the other is at the relevant post, how can the emergency counters be empty for 15 mins, that‘s unacceptable) This by far has been the worst hospital experience in my life."

"I took my kid there in October 2014 for a belly pain. It turned out to be an appendicite. He was admitted urgently, had a surgery within 2 hours. Everything went smoothly. I went on other occasions. Sometimes I had to wait for more than an hour, but that was fine. They have professional staff."

"I visited the AKH emergency department because I was experiencing significant throat pain. Before checking in, I asked the staff member at the front desk several times if I was in the right place, as I did not want to take attention away from patients in more urgent situations. The receptionist was kind and reassured me that it was fine to proceed since I was in pain. I was first seen by a general doctor, who explained that I needed to be examined by an ENT specialist. I followed her instructions and went upstairs to the ENT department. However, when I was called, the doctor came out into the hall, looked at my throat pitifully without even letting me enter the room, told me I shouldn’t have come there, and dismissed me abruptly. I tried to explain that swallowing and eating were very painful, but she didn’t listen. I don’t know if it was because I’m a foreigner or because my German isn’t perfect, but I still pay for my health insurance like everyone else, and I believe I deserve to be examined and treated respectfully. I completely understand that hospital staff work under great pressure and deal with many serious cases. My intention was never to bother anyone unnecessarily — I even confirmed at the front desk that I was in the right place. Still, I left the hospital crying, in pain, and feeling disrespected. I sincerely hope other patients who ask for help politely and in genuine discomfort will be treated with more understanding and compassion."

"The Vienna General Hospital (AKH) is the city's university hospital and the Medical University of Vienna. It's the fifth-largest hospital in Europe. Founded in 1686, Emperor Leopold I ordered its construction, with the first ward completed in 1697 to house 1,042 patients. We attended presentations on CT protocols and CT Body by Andreas Strassl, with contributions from Dr. Dietmar Tamandl and Prof. Christian Herold. Dr. Michael Arnolder presented on PACS, and Dr. Stefan Nemec discussed head and neck cases. Martin Schönthaler and Franziska Mally, from Vamed Engineering and Vamed Education and Training, respectively, welcomed the event. Overall, it was an enjoyable and informative visit."