A very relevant link
Feb. 8th, 2011 12:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenaySignal boosting this link: http://mevennen.livejournal.com/828534.html
I've always been a strong believer in the value of a national health scheme. Growing up under the NHS in England with a chronic joint disorder plus watching my uncles go through all their health issues means that I've had first hand experience with both emergency and regular medicine in the so-called 'socialized' healthcare system. It's impossible to place value on it. The care is always excellent and if the only big gripe is having to wait for non-urgent treatment because urgent cases are prioritised, I cannot see any problem.
After the last three weeks, my thoughts on national health care are even stronger. My care here in Canada has been excellent since day one. My GP did a full MOT when I first arrived, got me appropriate referrals when needed and had me in x-ray a couple of hours after seeing me when I had some shoulder problems.
The only problem that I've had has been the length of time it took to replace my GP when she moved, leaving me at the mercy of duty doctors at my practice's walk-in clinics for some months. My province has a big problem attracting family doctors and it's a problem in many areas of Canada that really needs to be worked on. We need more doctors to commit to family medicine. Despite the duty doctor issue, my practice called me and got me to an ER as soon as those bad blood results came in. The hospital got me seen by a GI guy the day that I was released, I had a scope, diagnosis and treatment started all within a week.
Even more importantly, I'll never have to worry about delaying treatment due to expense and so my long-term outlook is really good.
The duty doctor who told me I was fine two days before the ER trip? A one-off problem doctor who could have happened anywhere including the USA. The practice is now aware of the problem and is doing everything in their power to rectify it and make sure it never happens again.
The horror stories that people hear in the USA are the outliers, the unusual cases, which is why they get the publicity. For 99.999999% of cases, my normal experience is what happens: excellent care, super-fast attention for urgent stuff and short waits for the non-urgent stuff like joint replacements or non-critical diagnostic procedures all free of charge at the point of treatment.
National health care/single payer/socialized medicine. Call it what you want, it should be a basic right for everyone and not a privilege for the rich.
I've always been a strong believer in the value of a national health scheme. Growing up under the NHS in England with a chronic joint disorder plus watching my uncles go through all their health issues means that I've had first hand experience with both emergency and regular medicine in the so-called 'socialized' healthcare system. It's impossible to place value on it. The care is always excellent and if the only big gripe is having to wait for non-urgent treatment because urgent cases are prioritised, I cannot see any problem.
After the last three weeks, my thoughts on national health care are even stronger. My care here in Canada has been excellent since day one. My GP did a full MOT when I first arrived, got me appropriate referrals when needed and had me in x-ray a couple of hours after seeing me when I had some shoulder problems.
The only problem that I've had has been the length of time it took to replace my GP when she moved, leaving me at the mercy of duty doctors at my practice's walk-in clinics for some months. My province has a big problem attracting family doctors and it's a problem in many areas of Canada that really needs to be worked on. We need more doctors to commit to family medicine. Despite the duty doctor issue, my practice called me and got me to an ER as soon as those bad blood results came in. The hospital got me seen by a GI guy the day that I was released, I had a scope, diagnosis and treatment started all within a week.
Even more importantly, I'll never have to worry about delaying treatment due to expense and so my long-term outlook is really good.
The duty doctor who told me I was fine two days before the ER trip? A one-off problem doctor who could have happened anywhere including the USA. The practice is now aware of the problem and is doing everything in their power to rectify it and make sure it never happens again.
The horror stories that people hear in the USA are the outliers, the unusual cases, which is why they get the publicity. For 99.999999% of cases, my normal experience is what happens: excellent care, super-fast attention for urgent stuff and short waits for the non-urgent stuff like joint replacements or non-critical diagnostic procedures all free of charge at the point of treatment.
National health care/single payer/socialized medicine. Call it what you want, it should be a basic right for everyone and not a privilege for the rich.
