public health system waiting lists

[jessgray]

i am wondering how many people are satisfied with the current public health system's waiting lists. i just got a shock earlier when i got a letter about my ds's referal to the ear nose throat specialist he is on the semi-urgent list and has to wait 12 months :thumbsdown:
where does all the money go that polictians promise to health?

so my question is are you happy with the current health system? and do you like the amount of time people have to spend on the waiting lists?

[Mahjong]

Sort of, I waited 8 months for my keyhole surgery to find the cause of my lower abdomen pain after having Wyatt. Wasn't urgent, but the waiting sucked and the pain was worse LOL!

[FourAngelKisses]

Living in an area where we have 1GP for 6000 people, I am definately NOT satisfied with the public health system. My local hospital also can't do x-rays, scans, put casts on broken limbs, treat accident victims....they are a glorified nursing home. DS1 broke both bones in his arm when he was 6.....they had NO pain relief for him. We were very lucky that he weighed 32kg and were able to give him panadine forte.

However, I have never had a real problem with waiting lists. My DD got in to see an ENT straight away and had her tonsils removed 2wks later. She had a 2mth wait to get grommets put in.

But I do know it is getting worse. I tried to book her in for a hearing test and was told there was an 8mth wait when it only used to be 2mths. For speech therapy, there used to be a 3mth wait, now it is 6mths. We no longer have a baby health nurse.

Something needs to be done about this, peoples lives are at risk because no one can get seen by a GP (you need to plan to be sick 3wks in advance here just to get seen...if you try to book in when you ARE sick, you get told that they are booked out for 2-3wks). Politicians need to go without their perks so that the general population can get a good health system.

[jessgray]

i have heard of stories of people dying while waiting to have operations :(
i dont know if other states are as bad as victoria lol

[Ana Gram]

Another factor to look at is dentistry, a current pet peeve of mine. There are no such things as waiting lists for them if you don't have a healthcare card.

[FourAngelKisses]

I heard an elderly lady say once that the waiting time for a hip replacement was 3yrs. If you ever need one, get in early to avoid being in agony for a few years.

[babytoo]

about a month ago DS went to GP, got a referral and we saw the ear, nose and throat specialist last week and booked in for grommets in 2 weeks time! I was soooo completely amazed but we have private health insurance....a friend of mine had to wait 12 months to get grommets for her DD who had chronic glue clear and it was classed as urgent...she was in the public health system. I guess that is why we pay for Private Health though we can hardly even afford it, at least we can get attended quicker (although my paed was another story)!

[Mamaduke]

I'm soooooo glad we have private health insurance!

[bigglet]

One of the problems with the public health system is the fact that doctors get paid more to be a private doctor than working in the public system.
Being a public doctor is no fun especially when you are overworked, underpaid and then you get abuse from some patients for the waiting lists being too long - who would want to do it?

[♥Heaven Sent♥]

At the moment i am happy with the health system around here last year i waited 2 weeks to have my keyhole surgery done for gallstones and this year i waited a week to get an appointment to see the heart specialist but that is pretty urgent as anything could happen.I have an appointment in 2 weeks time:yes: .

[pegasus]

One of the problems with the public health system is the fact that doctors get paid more to be a private doctor than working in the public system.
Being a public doctor is no fun especially when you are overworked, underpaid and then you get abuse from some patients for the waiting lists being too long - who would want to do it?

Actually this is false - doctors in the public system get more rebate from medicare than they do from private health funds. This is one of the reasons some doctors don't actively get people to use their private health insurance when in a public hospital, hence, more public patients, hence, longer wait lists...

Just to give another opinion - it's not as though you are going to get anyone saying yes, they are happy with wait periods - everybody is the most important person requiring treatment and therefore should be at the top of the list.

I have worked in numerous public systems as well as private ones. For the record public wait lists will never really go down as wait lists are how funding is attracted and how politically staff are recruited etc.

As for wait periods in rural areas - they will always be more problematic than in the city as recruitment and then retention of health professionals in the country is a major issue for all medical (and allied health) professionals. I have been involved in many committees to try to work out positive ways to attract and retain staff. I have worked rurally for about 12years of my working career and have seen this side of things, where I've also had wait lists of about 6 - 12months for treatment (I would usually squeeze assessments in earlier and try to give home programs to tide people over). Yes when working privately you don't have to deal with this, but as I said - it's a reality for political persuasion and funding.

[cheezelkat]

Last year I needed to see a heart specialist. I tried to go public with my GP contacting the hospital to get me in about it and they "lost my notes" :banghead: I ended up paying for all my consults and tests out of my own pocket, although I did get some back from medicare.

I now have private health insurance simply because I would hate to see DS in pain if he were put onto a waiting list.

[Mamaduke]

And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you get slugged at tax time if you don't have private health insurance now?
If so, the money you'd be saving by putting it elsewhere (for a rainy day) and not paying excess fees for private health would be wasted by paying extra at tax time.
Brain hurt...bed time...post terribly close to resembling maths...very dangerous!

[Mamaduke]

Have you tried the iselect (http://www.iselect.com.au/) website?
We're with NIB - the young families plan (probably not the actual name of it but like I said, brain hurting!) and the times we've been to hospital we've paid a $100 excess (which goes down the longer you're with them)
I did just happen to choose a preferred hospital when I had Lucas so I'm not sure as to their policy on that.

[pegasus]

My original way to persuade DH that we should get private was the medicare surcharge. This is over and above the medicare levy.

The problem is that the less people that have private - the greater the strain on the public system, the greater the cost of private, the harder to afford, the longer the wait lists...you get the picture.

I could turn this thread into a political debate, but it's too late in the evening for that - somehow I think I know what the outcome would be...:rolleyes:

(Scuse me, but I've already posted my thoughts on the current medicare public healthcare system and the fact that it is not sustainable - funnily enough you'll find it on some labor - v - liberal thread...)

[skyejax]

the waiting lists suck. dd has suffered chronic glue ear since 8mths (well thats when it was diagnosed) so when shewas 1 i was referred to ENT he took 1 look and said she needs grmmits and she needs them asap. so onto the waitlist i went. they also gave me the price list and the phn number of where to call if i was able to come up with the money to pay for her to go in privately. 2000 was out of my reach though. so 13 mths later she finally went in. luckily the damage of waiting wasnt to bad, her speach picked right up. she has trouble pronouncing some things and if no better within the next 12-18 mths will hav to go to speach theapy but so far so good. she went from being 27mths and having vocab of aprox 50 words to saying sentances within a month. but really its sad that kids should hav to wait for things that r crucial to their developement.

[Pippi Longstocking]

Oooh, looky what I found lying around, a soapbox! Can someone give me a leg-up?:D


I am morally against getting private health insurance and refuse to do so. The privatisation of our health and education facilities sickens me, to be honest. We are ALL entitled to quality health care and a decent education as Australians. It is a basic human right. I think that it is disgraceful that those with more money get better health care. :no: . The basic premise of capitalism makes sense to me, but not when it comes to health and education. Sure, those with the capacity to earn more should be able to purchase bigger houses, more cars, better assets in general...But I strongly believe that it is the government's duty to provide decent health services to all Australians, not to those who can afford to purchase them!

And so, because of my politically-motivated protest, we wait. And wait. And wait for adequate healthcare.

Also we are very poor and couldn't afford private health cover even if I wanted too:o

[FourAngelKisses]

Here here!!! I totally agree with every word!!

[Mikeswifey]

We have Private Health Insurance. I wouldnt be without it. I have had it all my life.

I dont mind paying the $150 a month for it because I know it means I can get in anywhere instantly. I have been a kidney stone sufferer and I thankgod I had PHI and got my stones treated immediatly.

I am a nurse. I have worked in both Private and Public hospitals and much more enjoy working in the private system.

[Mikeswifey]

"I think that it is disgraceful that those with more money get better health care" (sorry it wouldnt let me quote that sentence for some reason)

We live off an apprentiship wage and still have private health insurance, so I dont agree with that comment, we have alot less money than most people on this forum who's husbands earn a full wage.

[littleboyblue]

I work in the public health systen in Darwin and it is shocking mind you our waiting list for semi urgent for ENT clinic is 3-6 months so not as bad as victoria. the thing with Darwin's big waiting list's is the ppl have private health insurance but won't use it because they don't want to pay( strange considering they pay for the insurance) although when you do see a specialist it's medicare that give you some of your money back not private health only if you need a operation does the private health insurance kick in. Our waiting list's are also getting longer because we have ppl come from south to put their names on our lists we ask for their address they give us a interstate one we say the wait will be about 3 months for that will you still be here they say that they will stay or fly back becasue our waiting lists are shorter than back in the home town which is making our list sky rocket.
I really believe something needs to be done we have our head or surgery leave a few months back because he thought the system was shocking and i am sick of being abused by patients because they have to wait to long to get an appointment spare a thought for those who work in the health system as admin officers it's not our falt the lists are long.

[Mikeswifey]

I agree Sha.

I have heard some bad things being said in the private system too.

The hospital I worked at for a long time, was quite a small private hospital, and the charge nurses and DON (director of nursing) have not got their own private office, so they are just in the nurses station.

I would hear the DON saying "lets kick Mr X out because hes private health insurance isnt as high as Mr Y"

When Mr X was clearly as unwell as Mr Y, they still kicked him out.

So there is some dodgy stuff going on in the private system too, just no long waits like the health system, but some unfair kicking out of sick patients.

[littleboyblue]

I agree with mikeswifey I have had private health insurance all my life and would pay anything to know i could be treated within 30 days in most cases.

[FourAngelKisses]

Being single income with 3.5kids, we can't afford private health insurance. With Brookes medical condition, we would be forever having to pay an excess and we couldn't possibly afford to be doing that. It is going to be a big enough struggle doing it in the public system.

[Hokey Pokey]

Ihave so far experienced very long waiting lists with public :(

[Pippi Longstocking]

Being single income with 3.5kids, we can't afford private health insurance. With Brookes medical condition, we would be forever having to pay an excess and we couldn't possibly afford to be doing that. It is going to be a big enough struggle doing it in the public system.

We are in the same position, only we have 5 kids on a single (low) income. My 7yo has had three surgeries (two of which were double procedures), has had a history of chronic asthma, and ENT problems. There is no way we could afford to pay her medical bills, nor should we have to!

[littleboyblue]

I fully understand that a lot of ppl can't afford private health but I believe that there are lots also out there that can afford it but don't get it we are on a single income and manage it. some health insurance now have no excess for children and you only pay excess once in the year no matter how many time you go into hospital well that's how my health insurance works but I fully understand that with your daughters condition it may be hard. I'm more angry at the ppl that can afford it blocking up the system for ppl that really can't afford it and need medical treatment.

[~EmsMum~]

im happy with it... but then again I havent had to have any major surgeries

[Pippi Longstocking]

I can see us going the way of the US and it won't be pretty, not only will it impact on middle class families who just get by now financially but also the poor, who will have very limited choices of care.


It's scary, hey. America here we come.....

[Mamaduke]

It's scary, hey. America here we come.....

On the upside...maybe we'll get Old Navy, Pottery Barn & Gymboree stores!!!;)

[Spewiesmum]

My DS has just had surgery through the public system in Brisbane. We only waited six weeks and it wasn't urgent surgery.

When we were going through the paperwork etc. with one of the nurses she said ENT has a list a mile long and if, in the future, he requires any ENT surgery we should pay the gap of $300 (or whatever it is) and jump the queues.

My DH had his wisdom teeth out last year and we paid the gap - he didn't want to wait three years.

When I came home from hospital with DS and needed help with feeding the CHN (lac consult) was unavailable for two weeks. I needed help feeding then, not a fortnight later. That was a surprise to me. We were told we could go to another clinic, but they weren't local. I ended up going to my doctor and saw his nurse who assisted me.

I'm not sure why lists are so long. It's awful hearing of patients being in the operating room and then having the operation cancelled as it's about to commence.

But - what angers me is everytime you set foot in a public hospital you see patients puffing away on cigarettes with drips attached to them, or as I saw one woman, an oxygen tank! That annoys me. And probably offends several people as well:o .

I just wonder how often they require hospitalisation and who misses out as a result. Could lists for some surgery be reduced? I'm not saying smokers should miss out, I just wonder about priorities. Obviously we can't point a stick at people and say "well you get to have surgery today and have a chance of living for another 20 years, and you don't. Sorry."

[~Emmylou~]

Totally not happy with the state of the public system here in Qld.

We never had private cover until we had DD and now we are glad we have it. We almost got rid of it about six months back - then DD got sick and needed a few days in hospital.
The difference in treatment, facilities and waiting times when she went into a private hospital under a specialist absolutely astounded us.

DH and I don't mind going public but when you have kids, it just makes such a difference for them IMO.
She had three days in a priv hossy and I think we were only a couple of hundred out of pocket all up.
We would never consider ditching it now, it was worth every single solitary cent. :yes:

[Pippi Longstocking]

Just out of curiosity, how many of the 5 people that answered yes they are happy with the current public health system have private health cover? :cool:

[~Emmylou~]

^ I think it's more likely that they have never had to actually use the public system.

I never had a problem with it either until I actually needed it.
Many people who take out private cover do so because they have experienced problems with public first hand and have the means to avoid dealing with it again and so take out insurance.
That was the case for us anyway.

[Angelinalily]

We do have PHI and one of the main reasons is to avoid waiting lists, so I have no first hand experience with them.

It does annoy me that I pay so much for PHI every month, and then still have to pay excess and gap payments, but that's what I'm willing to do to make sure I can choose the hospital, doctors and avoid the waiting lists.

I don't think anyone would say the waiting lists are good. I am really interested to hear what everyone thinks the solution would be.

[jessgray]

it sounds like victoria has the worst waiting lists lol
bracks wont be getting my vote in november lol
how do they deicide what is urgent and what isnt etc?

[Ana Gram]

There is no way we can afford health insurance on top of all the other insurance we get, plus bills rent and food.

[Pippi Longstocking]

we'd be better off unemployed with a health care card, rent assistance and many more gov assistance but we're good little citizens and so play the game of life to the best of our ability

Same here. We would actually get more money if my husband didn't work! With 5 children, the Centrelink payments would be way higher than my husband's **** earnings. And then when you factor in the health care card as well, we'd be saving hundreds. I currently have tonsilitis which has required two trips to the doctor, one shot of penicillin plus 10 days supply of oral antibiotics. That has put us $60 out of pocket, after medicare rebate. If I had a HCC, I would have paid $4.60 all up.
Which reminds me, I really ought to right Centrelink 'cos I am sure my husband's income is low enough to still entitle us to a HCC. Does anyone know what the cut off is?

[FourAngelKisses]

No, but if you find out, could you let me know please?? I put up with a UTI for 5wks because I couldn't afford antibiotics. :thumbsdown: