An amusing encounter

I recently had a long correspondence with Stuart Goss [stuartgoss@optonline.net], a community pharmacist in NJ. His emails consisted of a long wail about the unfairness of the U.S. health system. And no-one would deny that there are big problems with that system.

He appeared, however, to have given no thought to what the alternatives might be. He clearly thought that some sort of socialized system would automatically lead to nirvana. I reproached him about failing to consider the huge problems of ACTUAL socialized medicine systems overseas and said it was juvenile not to consider alternatives that took such problems into account.

Rather than transform our correspondence to an intelligent discussion of the alternatives, however, he not only said he wanted no further correspondence with me but also informed me that he had blocked my email address so that I COULD not email him any further.

With closed minds like that about, it is no wonder that the U.S. system has problems.

I actually think that the existing Australian system is not too bad. Mainly because both the hospitals and the insurers seem to bear a much lighter burden of red tape and regulation, private health insurance is affordable by even low income-earners in Australia. All health insurance is taken out by individuals in Australia rather than via employers and there is a Federal tax concession for low to middle income earners who do take out private insurance.

At the same time there is also a comprehensive network of "free" government hospitals that offer exactly the standard of service which you expect from any socialized system. The result is that cheapskates who don't insure and spend their money on beer and cigarettes instead go to public hospitals and get third-rate care -- as often detailed on this blog.

People who prioritize their health care by insuring, however -- nearly half of Australians -- get first-class care at Australia's huge range of private hospitals and facilities.

That all seems fair to me: "You pays your money and you takes your choice"





No ambulance: Australian woman in agony forced to take cab

Only tears saved her life -- and that was with the taxicab company. Nothing worked on the government ambulance service

MELBOURNE'S overloaded ambulance service has been forced to apologise to a woman it refused to help. Michelle Couling had her appendix removed in an emergency operation in hospital. But the 29-year-old almost didn't get there after being refused an ambulance when she called 000 for help. "I consider myself pretty lucky," she said. "It's difficult to think that they wouldn't believe me and they were going to try and diagnose me over the phone. "(My appendix) could have ruptured and I would have been here by myself without help."

Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey said the health system's failings were now being exposed daily. "For this young woman, it put her life at risk," she said. "If we had enough ambulances on the road, paramedics wouldn't need to make medical assessments by phone."

Metropolitan Ambulance Service general manager operations Keith Young admitted an ambulance should have been sent. "The preliminary information is that it was human error," he said. Mr Young said it appeared checks built into the secondary triage system, which diverts about 26,000 low-priority calls a year to alternative services, had failed.

Mr Young said MAS had called Ms Couling to apologise and explain after being contacted by the Herald Sun. He said the matter was being investigated to ensure similar mistakes did not occur again. [So they always say]

Ms Couling was home alone when she fell ill about noon on Saturday, December 15. By 2am, she knew she was in trouble with sharp abdominal pain. She called her parents in Traralgon for advice. "They told me I needed to call an ambulance," she said.

Ms Couling rang 000 and was told an ambulance would be sent, but there would be a delay as ambulances were busy. She was told to call back if her pain got worse. "I hung up thinking someone was on the way so I rang my parents to reassure them that it was going to be OK." But 25 minutes later Ms Couling was in extreme pain and rang 000 back. After being put on hold for about four minutes, Ms Couling's call was transferred to a paramedic. "After a three or four minute conversation he said: 'We're actually not sending anyone out - it doesn't sound like it's an emergency to me, it sounds like you might have gastro'." The paramedic said Ms Couling should still see a doctor and suggested she get a lift or call a cab.

Not wanting to wake friends at 3am, she called a cab. "The lady said: 'Look, we're not an ambulance service - there's a delay here, too'." When Ms Couling broke down in tears, the call-taker relented. A taxi arrived about 10 minutes later and took her to the nearby Austin Hospital. Ms Couling needed three morphine doses and anti-nausea drugs to dull her pain. She was operated on at 12.30pm and is now recovering.

Ms Couling's father said the response to his daughter's call for help was "pretty ordinary". "It could have been life-threatening - they didn't know that at the time. "A system where you can ring up and get a diagnosis over the phone - I just think that's a joke." Health Minister Daniel Andrews said a doubling of MAS funding since 1999 had put 489 more paramedics and 56 extra ambulances on the road.

Source