quoll

You were lucky - my DH needed to make an appointment with his GP (not urgent) and there was a 3 week wait (very popular doctor). Unusual, mine is usually 2 weeks for non urgent appointments to see my own doctor. The practices usually hold several urgency appointments and if you phone precisely at 8am you might strike lucky with your own doctor (I like the continuity of care) AFAIK this is the same as for my parents' practice in UK - they can get a same day emergency appointment any time. Mind you, Canberra is one of the worst places in capital city Australia for GPs we have a chronic shortage of them.

livinginreality

I'd have to wait approx 1-2 days to see a doctor here.It was the same when I lived in Australia.We also have emergency appointments.A 2 week wait for some people in some area's is unacceptable in my opinion.I must point out also I am registered with an NHS dentist,and had excellent service,very cheap too!

Jay-Producer

That's Cardiff mate. Rubbish health care with the GPs. 2-weeks is a joke for me also. I cant believe my tax money gets spent on this rubbish.

lilybilly101

That really is shocking. I can't remember waiting that long in ANY country. Shame on Cardiff!!! Maybe they need to hand out do it yourself medical kits.

Mummy in the foothills

Our local UK doc gave up on the appointments thing. Now if you want him, turn up and wait in line, it works great, he usually only there for a few hours a day (sees everyone before leaving) and goes house to house too.
If it's something small you can also just see the Nurse see what she thinks, then see the doc if she's worried, or in the case of my step father, get shipped off to the hospital for two weeks right away.

jaxslad

that 2 wks B/S seems to be the norm now in cardiff anyway...its poxy practice...but there again what do we want for nothing huh?

I remember yrs ago i was in such pain on my sides for hrs and hrs..and i had to get my old dear to call the docs, they answered in the end but just told my mother to give me pain tabs and if it carrys on then call back, which she did, but no answer...at this time i was curled over sweating/pukeing everywhere...dad takes me to the docs...hitting every pothole he could find then i just fainted in the front of docs door...the doc came out and said why didnt you bring him early.....like W.T.F doc calls hospital picks me up, gives me gas....arrrrrrr that's great stuff.... found out i had large kidney stones....man so so painful...the nurse said this is as close you would get from having a baby.....i said thank god im a male then huh
i was in hospital 5 days as they had to lazer blast the mothers' out..
Man that was just painful...

Jay-Producer

"For nothing" - my taxes go to the NHS. That isn't nothing.

dunroving

In comparison to your experience in Wales, I was able to get a same day appointment in Wales (Caerphilly). Sometimes had to sit in a waiting room for 2 hours, but at least it was available.

I find comparisons to other countries interesting and informative, whether I have lived there or not. I figure if you don't want to hear it, ignore it.

brits1

Compaired to what some people have to pay...yes it is for nothing.....we pay for child medication as well here in WA.....we pay for an appointment with the Doctor (unless on benefits) we get some of the money back but the "gap" has got larger every year but we also then have to pay Medicare at the end of the year when we fill in a tax return....this year ours was a large amount and we are not self employed just normal working citizens...and please do not get me started on paying for Child Education.....public schools are not cheap...and you have to pay for all your equipment...pencils right through to books....for a Rich country they seem to have got some things very wrong...

johnh009

It is all down to macroeconomics and microeconomics. Seems to be a problem in many countries.

Bevm

Just need to toss in that in many places in Canada it's impossible to get a GP, and there is little to no private alternative even if one can afford it. I think in Victoria about 40% of the population didn't have one. If you have one, it's the same thing -- fat chance of getting an appointment in short order. Book weeks in advance.

There are walk-in clinics, so people go there, but no appointments, so you have to be able to wait around, and if that's instead of a GP, there's no continuity of care or preventive medicine. There's also the emergency department, but if it's not a true emergency you can wait there forever.

Chronically short of doctors, Canada is, in part because the CMA has erected high barriers to foreign doctors at the same time that the government cut way back on places in medical schools. There's also resistance to nurse practitioners. I'm not sure they exist in Canada yet.

Plus in Canada and the US students have to get a regular degree before beginning medical school, so it's a lot longer and more expensive, so they're particularly keen to protect their turf so they can pay back their debts.

Bev

lilybilly101

So true Bevm. You could get a taxi and chances are the guy driving it will be a fully trained doctor from somewhere! Apparently Toronto is full to the brim of them. Very sad.

There is currently an obstetrician who comes to the island from the UK every 2 weeks at BC's expense. Bizarre. She does 2 weeks here and then goes home for 2 weeks! They say because they can't find anyone....

Maybe it's time to improve science teaching in the schools and stop charging outrageous amounts of interest on government run student loans. My husband's was 10% which was 3% higher than the banks! Utter madness.

And most people here go to walk in clinics to get medical help where they over prescribe due to not knowing the patient so there is a real fear of making a mistake. Very costly and not the best medical treatment.

I'm about to give birth in a hospital that doesn't even have baths for women in labor but crappy showers that run cold after a short while. If we didn't have extended medical we'd have to pay nearly $200 for a private room. Nice. And they wonder why I might want a home birth!

The NHS is a very burdened system with so many people but I have to say I would feel more confident getting treatment there than here.

Excellent dentistry here though!

Auld Yin

where they over prescribe due to not knowing the patient

What/where is your evidence to validate this statement? What/where are the statistics to indicate this is more common in walk-in clinics than in designated GPs' offices?

lilybilly101

I can't provide stats but I know 2 Brit doctors here in my village who can confirm there is a great deal of over prescribing here on a good day, never mind in a walk in. Maybe Canadians are so lovely because many of them are off their heads on opiates!

Also, each time I have been to a walk in with my son we have come out with gallons of antibiotics that I rarely give him. Friends (Canadians) here search for docs who don't over prescribe. They look high and low for doctors who are interested in long term care and not quick fixes!

Just writing what I have heard.....as part of a discussion....????

Found this.....

A growing number of Canadians are becoming addicted to prescription painkillers such as Tylenol 3 and OxyContin, say researchers who fear the problem could lead to more deaths.

In many Canadian cities, more people are addicted to prescription opiates than street drugs such as heroin or cocaine, according to study published in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

In 2005, the majority of street drug users in main Canadian cities were non-medical users of prescription opioids, with the exception of Vancouver and Montreal, researchers found.

The study's authors estimated that there are between 321,000 and 914,000 people in Canada who are abusing prescription opioids — between one per cent and three per cent of the country's population.

At Regina's detox centre, 80 per cent of the 200 clients a month get their drugs using prescriptions.

"I think our doctors are sometimes naive about the drug use," said Hansa Ram, a nurse who has been working at the detox centre for six years.

"Many times I phoned up the GPs and told them about it, [saying] 'Look, be careful, just don't prescribe this medication, because he's an addict. They don't even know they are an addict."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/...#ixzz0ediwf6H5

dunroving

I don't know about the rationale of overprescribing because of not knowing a patient, but certainly the general over prescription of drugs (especially antibiotics, painkillers and psychotropic drugs) as a convenient treatment is well-recognised. The pharmaceutical companies are loving it.