Look, all methods of providing medical care have problems; if there was a perfect system, everyone would be using it. But this headline points up a problem in trying to centrally plan something that is inherently unpredictable:
Patient walks into radio station in hospital gown after operation cancelled at last minute
Yep. That's what happened -- after the third time her surgery was rescheduled due to lack of hospital resources.
I haven't got any sure-fire answers; I'm not even sure of all the questions, but that's not what anyone wants from any health care system.
Yup, here in Ontario, Canada the waiting time to see an orthopedic surgeon is up to 36 months. My doctor was amazed that I got to see a surgeon after only 19 months.
ReplyDeleteOne of my coworkers had a mild heart attack in November and was scheduled for a stent in mid-December, which was postponed 3 times until mid January.
Al_in_Ottawa
Someone in the UK - I can't remember who right now, though I doubt it was a politician - has said that the NHS will probably have to abandon the idea of completely free medical care.
ReplyDeleteMedical costs in the UK have skyrocketed in recent years. If its free, you will use a lot of it.