Issues with Oz Medicine and a Potential Medical Practitioner meet-up

[scaredeycat]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

Sorry in our area if it wasn't for the Private Hospitals public medicine would be in a sorry state.... I now locum both privately and in the public system.The work loads are incomparable.Currently privately I am doing 10 stress tests in a day finishing often by 1300.Publicly I can be limited to 2 a day-and they wonder why there is a waiting list?

Hobart's public hospital is ridiculously dysfunctional - cardiology was actually run by a respiratory physician for 2 years who wanted to model the department on the NHS. He didn't see any problems in having patients wait 6 months or more to have an echo. He also felt that there was no need to train technicians locally, as he preferred to poach them from overseas. Decision making has very little to do with clinical need and more to do with who can lobby the loudest and come up with a "business plan" that will please the bean counters and their political masters.
I work predominantly in private and the greatest difference I see is that when I want something done for a patient, it generally just happens, usually within 24 hours, whereas in the public system there are almost always multiple road blocks that cause frustration. That's not to say that the public doesn't do good work - I've seen a lot of great results - but I've also seen far too many stuff ups over the years which could have been avoided.
bottom line - private health insurance is infinitely more important than frequent flyer status!

 

[serfty]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

...
bottom line - private health insurance is infinitely more important than frequent flyer status!

:shock:

Of course, one can always earn some loyalty program points/miles while paying for PHI!

 

[benhadi]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

The problem with public opinion is that suicide is and should be totally preventable.

I can tell you now that it isn't. Casualties are not preventable, they can be mitigated as much as resources permit, but just like any area of medicine, suicide isn't completely preventable.

People commit suicide/ self harm for a variety of reasons. Depression is one reason. And depression has many causes, including "feeling depressed" because of a personality disorder which isn't readily "modifiable".

 

[Pushka]

In SA the facilities for mental health are appalling. There is very little in the public health system and trying to get on the books of a private psychiatrist is very difficult. The government can simply hide away from it because it isn't a 'populist' area to spend sufficient money on. It will take something dreadful to happen to a prominent politician before it gets the funding it needs.

Not sure it is helpful to say that people should shy away from anti depressant medication though.

I think I'm posting in the right thread here?

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

The growth in Corporate Medicine with "Bulk Billing: GP's who do not see the same patient twice is not helping !

 

[scaredeycat]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

The problem with public opinion is that suicide is and should be totally preventable.

I can tell you now that it isn't. Casualties are not preventable, they can be mitigated as much as resources permit, but just like any area of medicine, suicide isn't completely preventable.

People commit suicide/ self harm for a variety of reasons. Depression is one reason. And depression has many causes, including "feeling depressed" because of a personality disorder which isn't readily "modifiable".

Very true. Back in the 80s I remember a case where a patient had spent 2 or 3 weeks in the psychiatry unit of the hospital I was working in and the afternoon that he was discharged he hung himself. I was talking about the incident with one of my consultants who commented that unfortunately some cases of depression are terminal diseases and not every one can be cured.

 

[beardoc]

Just to allow this thread to concentrate on Australian Medicine, I've started another thread on a possible AFF Medical Meet - it's over here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....and-social-events/aff-medical-meet-40160.html. Hope to see people over in that thread!

 

[AVC]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

Now I have visited Canterbury Hospital many times before and many times after. On one occassion I went to hospital around midnight and gave up and went home around 6:00pm and had not been seen. I was there a couple of months ago when was dad was very ill and we were there for around 2 hours and then left. Not one person was taken inside for treatment of any kind.

....

Sadly, two hours is nothing to wait. Even on a stretcher. I think the record is about 36 hours. That's 36 hrs on the stretcher, before you get a hospital bed. I have seen it go from OK, to bad, to worse, to what it is now, over the last 20 years. Pre-hospital medicos spending their entire shift waiting at an ED.

Hell, the government pay teams to babysit patients to release ambos to.... go and get more patients.

At some stage the whole system will fall in a heap. It's a sad state of affairs really.

 

[CWM]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

Currently doing a project in an asylum here; psych nurse told me once about 50% of the patients were self inflicted by way of drugs or alcohol, the rest through no fault of their own. I think this would have a lot to do with the strain in the system. It's a shame for the latter group, seems to be unlimited funds for illegal immigrants who just keep rocking up and demanding.

 

[Will]

Re: The totally off-topic thread

Currently doing a project in an asylum here; psych nurse told me once about 50% of the patients were self inflicted by way of drugs or alcohol, the rest through no fault of their own. I think this would have a lot to do with the strain in the system. ...

Feel free to advocate for a system that only accepts patients that have not contributed to their conditions in any way, by leading a perfectly healthful and blameless lifestyle. Unfortunately I don't think it would be of much use to anyone.