Jonahs_mummy

NHS Primary Services ........ My midwife said as I have "done this before" I only needed to see her every 6 wks but should make an appt to see her if anything 'out of the ordinary' occurs........ I have developed a pelvic condition (very bloody painful) and tried to make an appt to see her to be told I couldn't have an appt for 3 wks as nothing available... I explained the situation & the receptionist told me I could see the doctor instead....... I agreed to that & saw the doctor to be given 100 paracetamol & told to make an appt to see the midwife! AAARRRGGGHHHHH

Please please please tell me that the Primary Australian Medical Services are better organised.........

moneypenny20

You're quite far on now aren't you. Can you go along to hospital maternity session and ask them to see you?

You do realise you will have all the "God Aus is worse" brigade fighting with the "Brit is the pit" lot now don't you

kiwichild

Hate to tell you but thruth is NHS is superior in its service delivery to what we have here. main reason is probably cause each state here runs it's own health system (although medicare is nationwide).

We got one young guy here in Perth whow as recently on TV. he was involved in a terrible motorcycle accident that killed his friend and smashed the top of his skull so bad that the surgeons in the ER had to remove it. Now he has like a four month wait to get a titanium plate to be molded and impanted in his head. So for 4 months this poor buggar has to walk round with no top of his skull. He can actually wobble it like jelly

he has to wear a cycle helmet everywhere he goes, cause if he fell over or took a knock he could die.

And they classified his situation as being "elective surgery" that is; not urgent. :scared:

Gimme the NHS anyday

ABCDiamond

LOL

jad n rich

This is what we personally have found, if you have the money or private insurance its basically possible to see just about whoever you want within a few days. If you had a private gyno booked for your birth and this sort of thing happened I think you would get in for an emergency appointment, on medicare I'd say it would be local GP then hospital if he thought necessary.

One of the biggest advantages is to have private cover, even a lifesaving surgery will get done much quicker if you have private health cover or the money to cough up.

Jonahs_mummy

Hiya hun

LOL I never though of that! Yeap I will be 30wks on Saturday & am flipping huge

I had forgotten the joys of being beaten from the inside at 3am every morning.... LOL

I tried to get into the Antenatal clinic at the hospital to be told "make an appt with your midwife" ARRRGGGHHHHH

Oh well, I have paracetamol & ibruprofen gel so am grinning & bearing it! I just want to get a full nights sleep so at least I can remember what that was like when I have the baby!

I have a routine booking with the midwife in 2 1/2 wks for my bloods doing so I will just try & cope.

Claire
x

RReed

I also hate to say it, but the UK system is better than the oz system. Especially in terms of maternity care (despite your experience). Although I can only comment on Queensland maternity care. If you go public you will be in a system which is similar to the uk and safe, but not as well organised. If you go private you will have better access to the service and your environment will be nicer - but, if things go wrong during birth you will not be as safe. The doctors are not 'on site' to deal with emergencies leading to a delay in action.

Can you contact your midwife by phone. It sounds like you have symphysis pain (pelvic bone at front moves because your ligaments are soft). You could probably do with being referred to a physio to help you manage the discomfort. The only cure is to have your baby. Good luck!
Rachel

wholeworldwindow

Hi, yup it sounds like what I had ...pubic symphasis disfunction! (or close spelling). Not to scare you because it can go to many different levels, very mild discomfort to acute pain- I had crutches for the last 3 months of my pregnacny but it recovered immediatly after birth (Praise the Lord! though I still get twindges)- and the other extreme - a mate of mine was still having steroid injections in her spine 2 years after birth! If you are in extreme pain when you open your legs (oooh vicar!) that sounds like the one. I had to get hubby to roll me over in my sleep for ages - it's awfull! You'll probably need a support belt to help take some of the weight off and a physiotherapist for sure. I was told I would have to give birth with my legs together! Luckily I had a section as the bugger was over 10 lbs and wouldnae come out! Don't panic as there is all different levels of this - but you need to seek help! It took ages for me to be diagnosed as most doctors had not heard of it and even then midwives had no idea about it! There is a society to help and they can send out a booklett on how to cope and this has a great "fill in"section that you give to your midwife and they can go read all about it if they don't know much - which most don't. do an online search, that's how I found the support society. This is a very common thing but as I said there is many different levels and I found most in the medical field had no idea about it. If this sound familiar at all, get it checked out would be my advice.

RReed

I'm a midwife and I know about it . I'm surprised at/concerned at your experience. It is a very common disorder, usually getting worse with the more pregnancies you have. I would refer women to the physio regularly, at least one woman a month. We even had our own 'referral form' for the physios because we used them so much. Was your maternity care in the uk or oz?
Rachel

wholeworldwindow

Hi, My care was in Scotland (Edinburgh and Livingston). It was 3 years ago and no one had a clue what I had. Only through my own research was I able to get information about it. Only one of the staff at the hospital had even heard of the condition before. Perhaps a lot has changed in the last 3 years, or pehhaps it's just Scotland - but if this other lady does have this condition and her doctor recommended paracetemol - then perhaps your area is just more in touch than others?

ABCDiamond

I think that comment will apply in many things.

There was another thread about hospitals recently, and two hospitals local to me were mentioned, with one getting a bad rating and the other a good rating. My own experience with both hospitals has been exactly the opposite, with the good hospital getting it wrong on two occassions, but the bad hospital getting 5 stars from me every visit.

I think it comes down to different staff, on different days, rather than the actual hospital itself.

Both countries will have good and bad

Zentack

Hi JM,

I'll be the first to say that my opinion may be a bit bias, due to the fact that my mum died from cancer last month with the help of the NHS.

I prefer the Australian health system where you pay to see your GP and then claim the money back from the state as opposed to the NHS where GP's get a lump sum from the state based on the number of patients they have on there books. My main reason for this is that Australian GP's are less preoccupied with their bottom line and will see you and refer you to specialists at the drop of a hat, because you pay. From my experience with the NHS the opposite happens and GP's always go for the lowest cost option, i.e. the paracetamol or antibiotics. The downside to the Australian system is that it costs money, but personally I prefer an early diagnosis but then I'm not struggling with my finances.

I disagree with Rachel's comments that private is better here in Queensland with regard to maternity treatment. I think its more a mixed bag and like most places it depends on which hospital you go to. We had our first child at Redlands public hospital last October and they were brilliant with excellent standards of care and facilities. Contrast that to a friend of ours who went private in Brisbane and didn't get her own room and never saw the same nurse twice. As I see it private or public its still the luck of the draw. And that's another reason why we want to stay in the Redlands hospital catchment area ;-)

Where ever you go you'll get health horror stories which make the headlines.

Hope that your pregnancy goes well.

Papa Z (formally of St Johns, Wakie)

RReed

Hi Zentack
I'm really sorry about your mum. Must have been very hard for you.

Just wanted to 'correct' you about private maternity care. I work in both private and public at the moment and if I was to have another baby I would opt for the public system without a doubt. The only advantage I can see to the public system is that you have a 'nicer' room in hospital. The care in the public is more 'evidence based' and in my opinion safer. Of course different hospitals and different staff members will vary considerably.
Rachel

Zentack

Now I'm just confused, public / private!? Anyway I agree that quality can vary between hospitals here in Queensland, we also plan to go public again for our next. But I still feel safer under the Australian health system than the British, and thats with most of my friends in the UK working for the NHS.

But dentists are a different story.

Cheers

Papa Z

Jonahs_mummy

Hiya Papa Z

thanks for your comments hun..... I guess at the end of the day we will just have to wait & see but my Mum agrees & prefers the Aussie way of doing things.

Claire

PS. St Johns eh? We are about 3 mins from there! LOL! Small World!