This is the Government-run hospital's sensitive response:
"We are disappointed that Ms Blake was not happy with the advice and care she received and will of course investigate any complaint."
We're not just talking about long waits for surgery here, folks. Stuff like this happens when everything is standardized and needs to be figured out well in advance.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207151/Woman-gives-birth-pavement-refused-ambulance.html#ixzz0OY6dJrND
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Oh, for...look. Piss off. You are taking one irritated hospital worker's response to represent an entire healthcare system.
ReplyDeleteWow...simmer down now.
ReplyDeleteIf you were a reader, you'd know that health care has been an on going discussion on this blog (because it is the biggest political issue in the US right now). Usually, I speak in generalities. I just wanted to mention a concrete example of one of the biggest problems with government-run health care (lack of proper incentives for strong care.)
I am sorry if you took this as an offense to your entire system. I am not a Euro-bashing republican (to the contrary, there are many things both sides can learn from each other) or health care workers. They are doing the best they can within a flawed system that treats people too much like numbers and name on a piece of paper (and the US has a flawed system as well that leaves people without the security of knowing they will have coverage in the future.)
The US hospitals already treat you like a number/name on a piece of paper. My sister needed surgery at Children's Hospital in Boston, one of the best Pediatric Hospitals in the World, and her surgeon had the wrong sheet. Now, this wouldn't be a problem EXCEPT that even though he had already met her twice, he did not realize at first that he had the wrong person until my sister corrected him.
ReplyDeleteYou can also ask Glenn Beck, who after receiving surgery from the best Doctors he could find, was then sent home after complications in surgery, and then had to be rushed to the ER for complications and wait over 40 minutes in the hospital. I attached the link to the article.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/3502/
Now, this was for Hemorrhoid surgery, something simple. He was likely being over dramatic, but I will say that the irony is that I now see him criticizing European Health for the exact same things he complains about our healthcare system in the article.
There are hundreds of stories about how our own system fails daily, but we choose to ignore them most of the time. I am sure we could dig up a couple of our own system delaying care because an insurance company hadn't properly processed a claim/was claiming it did not need to pay, or of doctors not caring about patients, or the EMS failing to arrive to help. Just saying...
That's pretty bad, but it's not like America's faring any better as it is. I have private health insurance, and being in NY, I have access to some of the biggest, most prestigious hospitals in the country. But it's not for nothing that a couple of years ago I switched surgeons and hospitals five times (including the hallowed Mt. Sinai) before finally being treated like a human being by my surgeon in Sloan-Kettering and having my tumor removed there (but not before having to redo all the biopsies and pre-op exams that were screwed up before). (Now, that's not so bad, but you try being awake as doctors shove a several-inch-long needle the width of a drill bit in you multiple times, attempting to tear out bits of flesh. Oh, and for one of those times, have the doctor not give enough anesthesia.) I still have an absolute fear of hospitals and am remiss about the post-op battery of tests I'm supposed to regularly undergo because of how traumatic my experience was. The truth is, no one system is flawless, but the desire to make healthcare--as flawed as it may be--accessible to as many people as possible should be an end goal of any modern, democratic nation. There is no way I could afford the surgery or the insurance to cover it if I weren't lucky enough to be in the situation that I'm in, and I know plenty of hardworking American citizens who can't afford the healthcare they so desparately need. And the beauty of the American way is that if someone did have to shoot out a baby on a sidewalk because of oversight or some bad hospital rules, the money saved on health insurance can always be spent on hiring a malpractice lawyer! Jus' sayin.
ReplyDeleteMalpractice Lawyers= Scum of the earth....
ReplyDeleteBut I digress. Tajreen, Good points. Just know that Benjy is going to cite how you had the ability to find your good doctor after several attempts as to why our system is better (I know the arguments of his a bit too well now).
I will point out, as I have before, that I believe that a lack of healthcare is a threat to both "Life" (if you are sick and dying/dead, you don't have it) and "Pursuit of Happiness" (not many people are happy when they are sick). Now I do not agree with a public option but I do think that their should be some form of government supplement (like a tax credit up to a certain point to those who purchase their own insurance for themselves or their family*). Otherwise, I feel that we are ignoring two of the three basic rights that our forefathers fought for.
*Sounds like McCain, but I will point out that his plan called for a credit that would not be sufficient for individuals or families (2k for individual and 4k for families when the average costs for a basic, basic plan is twice that). It also essentially would tax the already dwindling pool of employer based healthcare plans, which means people would be losing coverage and not able to afford it with his supplemental package.
Tumor? Did not know that.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the first commentator up there. I agree that the system is f-ed regardless. I'm lucky to have government sponsored single-payer insurance. Aside from the one Russian doctor who I couldn't understand (and apparently didn't understand me), it's been alright to me.
Health care reform needs to happen. I'd rather have a system that runs up costs and is inefficient but still provides care than no system at all. Just saying.