Many things in life are relative – so if you thought queuing was a problem in Chinese banks then take a look at the public health system.

A dragondata staffer experienced first hand how relatively advanced banks actually are compared to other mass industries in China after a nightmare experience last week at one of the nation’s biggest hospitals in Beijing.

Queues in Chinese banks may mean waiting times of more than two hours, but at least there’s an element of order. Queues in Chinese public hospitals it turns out is nonexistent, and waiting periods are even more drawn out than banks.

Visiting one of the biggest hospitals in Beijing last week, a hospital with a reported income of more than $1 billion RMB (US$125 million) and ranked first among all state owned hospitals in the capital Beijing in 2006, patients have to be at the hospital sometimes as early as 5am if they stand any chance of seeing a doctor that day.

However an appointment number merely means a patient is guaranteed being seen by a doctor – and has no bearing on when that will be, beyond either being morning or afternoon.

With a huge shortage of medical staff, appointment numbers for specialist or well known doctors are sold out before 8am each day.

The dragondata staffer in question was lucky enough to get an appointment number on the day she went to see a doctor.

Her number was set for a morning appointment (morning appointments are from 8:30 to 12:00), and the number suggested she would be seen towards the end of the morning. However in reality this wasn’t the case as the doctor was consumed by other people vying for his/her time and attention.

On average, there are at least 4-5 people in an examination room (far from private) – a couple of patients and one or two people trying to get the doctor’s attention.

Meanwhile outside the examination rooms is chaos, with anxious patients blocking the door and pushing each other. They are all trying to be the first one to talk to the doctor when he/she walks out the room.

When a doctor walks out the room, the first thing he/she often says is: “Be quiet. Give me some room to walk.”

Every time when the door opens, people are shouting like crazy in a bid to grab the doctor’s attention and see what’s going on in the examination room, and thus estimate how soon they will be seen.

It seems whoever can get the doctor’s attention first will be seen the next.

In theory, doctors should call patients based on their appointment numbers.

However this is not the case in reality. Everything is so random that queuing has almost become a lottery.

Comparing the health system to the banking sector, of which dragondata has done a great deal of research, and it seems the queuing problem in the Chinese banks is 100 times better.

At least there are queues in the banks – albeit slowly moving ones.

It’s no surprise then that many Chinese bank executives believe they have done a great deal in alleviating the waiting times inside banks – everything it seems is relative after all.