ABCDiamond

Saturday, 18 July 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8156279.stm

An interesting comment following this in 2007

kevin747

It probably won't happen. I think the UK has a far better health service than Aus.
Is this another one of "It's so wonderful here in Aus posts" Self delusion is a
wonderful thing.

Australia regards itself as a civilised country yet Aboriginals still lose their sight because of Trachoma .

My surgeon pal was horified by the practices in Aus and pissed off out of there quicker than me.

Vash the Stampede

It needs to happen. The current system is unsustainable. Now that they've begun to privatise the NHS, it won't be long before fees are introduced at point of service.

WillBlack

Due to flies and poor sanitation. Clean up rubbish and wash?

moneypenny20

Why is it I who is deluded for thinking the Aus system is very good (as it works for us anyway), and not you because you consider the UK system to be better? Why are either of us deluded? Why can we not think differently?

Hypothetical and obviously I realise you weren't talking about me

sonlymewalter

The UK NHS is unsustainable and it will only become worse...

Is this not happening in Aus already as we pay to go to the Dr's and only receive X back from Medicare?

I realise there are some Dr's who do bulk billing but a lot have stoped this. I don't mind paying a small amount to see the Dr. At least we get to see him/her straight away and let's face it if we didn't pay then the government would only take it some other way.

MacScot

I think that the article means NHS England as health is devolved in the other nations of the UK.

Petals

I keep on saying it but we have had excellent care here in Australia unfortunate that we have had to use the system but both my mother and my daughter have received excellent care and continue to do so.

I believe in a co payment even though I might have a moan about it sometimes myself. It makes us realise that we cannot take going to the doctor for granted and we need to realise that if we just have sniffle or an ache perhaps we do not need to go. I also believe paying for pharmaceuticals helps too.

I have been around the emergency ward quite a bit with daughter, mother, myself on occasion and oh and I am amazed that people moan they do not get attention. I have noticed that some patients are known by name as they regularly get taken down there. My mum is ninety now and has had angina since her sixties and she has only been to emergency for her angina a couple of times. Some people go everytime they get a twinge instead of taking a puff of meds.

We are all going to leave this world one day and it amuses me that people seem to think that the medical profession is going to somehow prevent this and if they do not then there is something wrong with the system.

scottishcelts

I agree MP. My son needed to go to hospital the day after we arrived and he was in for 2 days and we have no complaints at all. We even had the opportunity to speak to the doctor's over the phone (whenever we requested). So all good.

Though saying that i have spoken to a a couple of uk midwives here and they reckon they are 20 years behind here.

ABCDiamond

This article had nothing to do with Australia, did not mention Australia, and is not a bitter or twisted comment from the BBC either.

By the way Trachoma currently affects about 84 million people worldwide, according to the NHS.
In November 2006, the Australian Government launched the National Trachoma Surveillance and Reporting Unit (NTSRU) to combat trachoma among outback Aboriginal communities.
Poor water supply in the Northern Territory and inadequate personal hygiene is a major cause of this.

However, this has nothing to do with the report in the BBC about the 'possibility' of a charge in the UK for going to the Doctors at some stage in the future has it ?

moneypenny20

Well as babies have constantly been popping out with little or no intervention for thousands of years does it matter?

itigo

I have been reading the reports on the waiting times in Victoria and there are faults out here too. Over a year for a non urgent (but still painful!) orthopaedic outpatients appt. Having had 3 knee surgeries fairly recently, I am now praying they hold my knee together!

A little girl with cerebral palsy in local news waiting over 5 months for scoliosis correction - now in lots of pain and with a feeding tube.

I have a cardiologists appt. this week that I have waited 8 weeks for. My GP almost sent me to the ER so I would be seen sooner as in his own words he didn't want me to 'drop dead' before my appt! He did say that to the nurse but I was 2 feet away. Nice.....

There will always be faults in both systems, the USA is even more barmy!

scottishcelts

I think it's to do with technology more than anything else

ABCDiamond

Absolutely correct, and imagine how much worse it might be, if there wasn't a large private medical system or contributory payment here.

I think the main thing that this report relates to is: "£20 to see a GP" though. Not the 'hospital' system itself.

ABCDiamond

Has something changed in the technology of having a baby ?