The evil Canadians

[WillowIX]

I'm sorry Cloudy but gallstones is elective surgery. The pain might be terrible (weird that some people have no pain at all whereas it is the other way around for some), but if there are patients with more dire need for surgery, they will just have to wait. And it's not all about funding as well. Still it's better that she had her surgery than being turned down because of money issues. And perhaps you should tell her that our "lousy care" is still better than the care she would have received in an unnamed North American country (not Mexico [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). But if she was hemorrhaging she could probably sue for malpractise. That's a critical condition and she shouldn't have had to wait that long.

No system is perfect, but IMO everyone is entitled to the same care. Money is not an issue. A millionare shouldn't receive better care than a factory worker and so forth.

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by WillowIX: I'm sorry Cloudy but gallstones is elective surgery. The pain might be terrible (weird that some people have no pain at all whereas it is the other way around for some), but if there are patients with more dire need for surgery, they will just have to wait. And it's not all about funding as well. Still it's better that she had her surgery than being turned down because of money issues. And perhaps you should tell her that our "lousy care" is still better than the care she would have received in an unnamed North American country (not Mexico [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). But if she was hemorrhaging she could probably sue for malpractise. That's a critical condition and she shouldn't have had to wait that long. No system is perfect, but IMO everyone is entitled to the same care. Money is not an issue. A millionare shouldn't receive better care than a factory worker and so forth.

It's actually only one of the times she's had what she called 'lousy' medical treatment but it's the one story I remembered any details of. [img]smile.gif[/img] Routine stuff she says she has few if any issues with, but the topic of surgery gets her going!

Melinda's been living in Canada (and very happily except for the medical stuff) for some time now. The incident I mentioned above happened a few years ago, so I'm not sure what the local situation is for her now. I remember her saying she wasn't trying to get ahead of anyone in line, but when you have to be put on morphine for pain, I'd hope someone would look a bit more closely to figure out what was going on before sending you home?!

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by Animal: Money talks, Cloudy. The universal language. It's the funding to the various hospitals that's the issue, and certain areas are better funded than others. The health care system is universal and everyone is entitled to the same level of care, but it depends on which hospital you go to. Probably, the same everywhere I would think.

Aha..ok. I just wondered why a system that ostensibly offers equal care to everyone would have a hospital less well equipped etc than others in particular neighborhoods. I could understand it in the states where the local budgets determine what public hospitals get built and how big/well staffed they are but I wasn't sure what you meant about public hospitals in Canada that way. Are there private ones in Canada or is that legal?

Originally posted by WillowIX: No system is perfect, but IMO everyone is entitled to the same care. Money is not an issue. A millionare shouldn't receive better care than a factory worker and so forth.

Willow, that's what I mean about it not working they way it's supposed to -- you say everyone should be entitled to the same care, and for the most part I certainly agree with you! Yet, Animal points out that some 'lower income' areas have lesser medical facitlities because of money issues. To me, that's not much different that people in the states not being able to afford certain kinds of care. Either way, someone loses out because of money.

[ 07-20-2003, 01:38 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

[Bardan the Slayer]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: quote: Originally posted by WillowIX: I'm sorry Cloudy but gallstones is elective surgery. The pain might be terrible (weird that some people have no pain at all whereas it is the other way around for some), but if there are patients with more dire need for surgery, they will just have to wait. And it's not all about funding as well. Still it's better that she had her surgery than being turned down because of money issues. And perhaps you should tell her that our "lousy care" is still better than the care she would have received in an unnamed North American country (not Mexico [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). But if she was hemorrhaging she could probably sue for malpractise. That's a critical condition and she shouldn't have had to wait that long. No system is perfect, but IMO everyone is entitled to the same care. Money is not an issue. A millionare shouldn't receive better care than a factory worker and so forth.

It's actually only one of the times she's had what she called 'lousy' medical treatment but it's the one story I remembered any details of. [img]smile.gif[/img] Routine stuff she says she has few if any issues with, but the topic of surgery gets her going!

Melinda's been living in Canada (and very happily except for the medical stuff) for some time now. The incident I mentioned above happened a few years ago, so I'm not sure what the local situation is for her now. I remember her saying she wasn't trying to get ahead of anyone in line, but when you have to be put on morphine for pain, I'd hope someone would look a bit more closely to figure out what was going on before sending you home?! [/QUOTE]Ah, but one of Reeka's relatives went through exactly the same situation in the USA, where doctors consistently refused to look into what turned out to be a brain tumor, instead classifying it as "stress".

Yes, mistakes are made, but no - it's not just by societies civilised enough to have free healthcare. It's called 'human error', and doctors will make it no matter how much they are being paid. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cloudbringer]

I agree with that to a point Bardan! But I have three friends in or from Canada and every one has the same kind of problem with the way their health care was managed.

If you see my post back a bit, my colleague's sister was actually never sent for tests that according to the doctor who finally ordered them are very routine when discussing symptoms like hers, especially with a history of heart problems in the family. She'd had heart trouble and strokes that weren't diagnosed, in fact she was sent away without any PHYSICAL testing because her first consultation said it was mental stress-induced and despite the long term effects and multiple visits to doctors it took over a year for one to finally say 'go get these tests' and she got sent to a big hospital in Montreal, I think. When her family complained about the lack of proper diagnosis, the official statement was similar to yours 'human error' happens or somesuch. The unofficial comments by several doctors was that it cost MONEY to do those tests and they didn't want to issue requests for them.

What I don't understand, and maybe someone in Canada or who knows the system can explain, is why wouldn't a doctor just do or have done standard tests? Is there a quota or like some of our HMO's in the states, do they only get a certain amount of money to maintain things and skimp where they can? I didn't understand that part when my colleague was telling her story.