You can bitch and moan about our health system, and sure, you can find faults in it if you look hard enough, but I have to say we have one of the best health systems in the world and all in all we do a pretty good job.  To many aussies have only ever seen our system and therefore whinge, but to get a more rounded view I think you need to look at some of the hospital systems in some overseas countries. I remember i saw in one country a old coke bottle locked behind a glass cabinet full of white fluid. There was no other label apart from the coke label. When I enquired about it I was told it was some sort of medicine for the patients (nurse didn't know what it was).  I've seen where they lock bars of soap in display cabinets (same hospital) because they didn't want the locals stealing them and they needed to ensure they has some soap for the doctor to wash his hands. My wife spent one night in this hospital on what was supposed to be a 5 day stay, and she snuck out after the first night.

We have a lot to be grateful for, sure its not perfect, but I'll take our system over any other in the world any day of the year.

John Smith wrote on Jan 1^st, 2013 at 10:08am:


So because some other countries have worse hospitals we should put up with dying on waiting lists? And be grateful for it?

SOB

John Smith wrote on Jan 1^st, 2013 at 10:08am:



Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

You need to travel more John.

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Jan 1^st, 2013 at 11:21am:


you need to used balanced viewpoints. you sound like rustynail with his incessant criticisms of australia and saying how country A is better because of ONE aspect. eg Singapore. got a lot going for it but you dont want to get in trouble with eh police because justice is a different animal there. Guilt is an assumption and evidence is of lesser import. And dont try and be an opposition politician either because you have a habit of ending up in hospital, jail or a cemetery.

but it does have great braodband so that excuses it right?

Scandinavia has a good health system but the weather...? and of course it has taxes doube our ans then some.

australia has its problems but we arent in the top 3 destinations for people for no reason.

aquascoot wrote on Jan 1^st, 2013 at 11:59am:


it is the worst possible thing you can do. Because once you start down that route you end up in a situration where you value the WORTH of a person to society before givein them treatment. so do we deny treatement to homeless or menatlly ill or the unemployed and unemployable (like prevailing and imfullofit? it isnt just an ethics debate. it is also a pragmatic one becaue the simplest and most effective means f solving the health funding problem is the ration treatment out to those that deserve it ratehr than those that need it. do you really want that? do you want to have to justify the cost-benefit analyis of that heart bypass of yours? how would you do that at 70yo and on the pension?

[quote author=aquascoot link=1356911027/39#39 date=1357006388]gold . i can see your point but let me give you quite a common scenario.

a homeless alcoholic with no next of kin will fall over and crack his skull and has a deep brain bleed

now here is a guy society has absolutely and totally ignored , except perhaps the salvos .
now he will arrive in casualty and the doctors will know that he is going to be a vegetable after checking the scans.
he will then be transferred to an ICU where he may well last a few weeks and will have maybe $50,000 spent on him (of which he is totally unaware as he is in a coma).

now wouldnt it have been more sensible to spend that $50,000 on him to provide him with some of the basics like food and shelter.
i have trouble understanding how the current system is sensible in this regard and i think the public need to be involved in a debate on if they want spending early on "quality of life" or late on "prolonging life"  its a difficult question.[/quote]

i would oppose that to my last breath. it all sounds nice and good when you are young and heathly but when you are older...?  not so happy, wondering if some 25yo doctor is going to determine if you live or die. or your estranged family etc.

we value all life or we diminish everyone. the right to life it THE PRE-EMINENT human right. when we screw around with that, we devalue the rest of our rights as well. The homeless man deserves the same treatment that a PM does and one thing about Australia that has set us apart from so many other countries is that IS how we treat people.

while pansi is off lauding Thai hospitals she conveniently forgets that they treat those who can pay - and no one else. thousands die on the roads outside those hospitals because they cannot afford to pay. is that really the state we want to acheive?

very good reply, has given me something to think about.

longy

while pansi is off lauding Thai hospitals she conveniently forgets that they treat those who can pay - and no one else. thousands die on the roads outside those hospitals because they cannot afford to pay. is that really the state we want to acheive?
.........................................................................

I wasn't comparing their health care system to ours, was I? You always manage to get thinks screwed up.

I said, rather than waiting in the lengthy queue here, it is better to find an Asian country that has good health care at a much more reasonable price compared to our private hospitals, for those who can rake up the money of course.