Healthcare services

Vocabulary

access sth reach, enter, or use sth;

clinical trial a piece or period of research on the effectiveness or safety of drugs or treatment;

complementary medicine treatments that are not part of traditional Western medicine;

confidential meant to be kept secret;

cosmetic surgery medical treatment intended to improve sb's appearance;

free of charge if sth is free of charge it costs you nothing;

get hold of sth find or obtain sth;

GP (general practitioner) a doctor who is trained in general medicine and who works in the local community;

negligence failure to give proper care or attention;

out of hours when a surgery, office, etc. is closed;

referral the act of sending sb to get professional help;

register at/for/with sth put your name on an official list;

second opinion advice from another person;

register access hours charge

referred surgery referral

medicine opinion negligence

When you move to a new area, you need to 1._______ with a doctor. With most surgeries, if you need out of 2. ______ care and your doctor is not available, there will be an answerphone message, and you will be 3. ______ to another doctor. If you have a serious problem which involves seeing a specialist, you can get a 4. _______ by asking your GP to write to the hospital. If you aren't happy with the specialist's diagnosis, ask for a second 5. ________. You can gain 6. _______ to your medical records at your GP's surgery. All health care is free of 7. _______ even plastic 8. _______ if it is for medical reasons, and some surgeries also make use of complementary 9. _______. If you are unhappy with your treatment and suspect medical 10. ________ , you should speak to the medical staff first before taking any further action.

B. Study the vocabulary and complete the text.

A revolutionary era in Medical advances

Vocabulary

advance in sth progress made in science, medicine, technology, etc.;

be confined to bed / a wheelchair have to stay in bed / a wheelchair;

chemotherapy the treatment of diseases, especially cancer, by drugs;

condition a long-term illness or medical problem;

conventional traditional;

cure a medical treatment that makes a sick person well again;

decade a period of ten years;

diagnostic used for finding out what physical or mental problem sb has;

era a period of time that has a particular quality or character;

eradicate destroy or get rid of sth completely;

invasive involving cutting of the body;

procedure a medical operation or investigation;

prone to sth likely to suffer from sth;

restrict sth to sth limit the size, number or amount of sth;

vaccine a substance which is put into the blood and protects the body from disease;

In recent d_____, we have witnessed radical changes in c_____ medicine:

► Fifty years ago, scanners didn’t exist. D_____ tools were r_____ to stethoscopes and basic x-ray machines.

► Until recent years, children were p_____to certain infectious diseases, for which there was no effective c_____. V_____ have almost eradicated some of these c_____.

► In the past, if you needed a major operation, you would be c_____ to bed for weeks. Today many operations use less i_____ p_____, requiring day surgery only.

► In the past, the mortality rate for patients with organ failure, such as heart, lung, or kidney failure, was 100 per cent. Today, t_____ can allow patients to resume a normal life.

► The survival rate for many cancers has improved considerably over recent decades, due to the development of c_____ to treat the condition.

Match 1-10 with a-j.

1. They have been doing research on the disease for a a. chemotherapy.

2. There’s a prize for the most important technological b. decade.

3. After the operation, she was confined c. transplant.

4. My sister is prone d. incurable.

5. I needed to know the current survival e. to depression.

6. The surgeons had to perform a delicate medical f. prone.

7. His life was saved thanks to an organ g. rate.

8. Cancer treatment is often in the form of h. to bed.

9. It’s her third cycling injury; she's really accident- i. advance.

10. Sadly, this disease is thought to be j. procedure.

C. Study the vocabulary read the text and complete the tasks.