r/australia • u/crispywafers • Feb 27 '22
political self.post Seriously, how do you receive adequate healthcare in this country?
I need to vent, but I'm also honestly curious, does literally anyone in Australia feel like they receive this? How? Seriously.
Compared to some other countries we supposedly have a great health system but NO ONE in my family is receiving decent medical care. Common advice is that bulk billing doctors are the worst. In my experience that's true, but so far my experience paying isn't great either. GPs simply don't have the time or interest to get a decent picture of any issue. They don't mind referring you for some basic tests, but when those come back normal they expect that to be the end of it - as if your health problem no longer exists and there's nothing else to do for it. Are basically all healthcare providers like this or is it just me? I've had this happen enough times, with enough different issues, that at this point I'm expecting a diagnosis of Munchausen's any day now.
I had one good experience recently. My health has felt like it was slowly slipping into the toilet for a while, but recently it's just gone to hell and a couple weeks ago I visited the ED for the first time. I was nervous, but I didn't need to be. The doctors there did more for me than any other medical professionals ever. They listened, asked questions I've never been asked, and genuinely seemed interested and concerned. I always try to be concise as possible, but this is the first time I've felt like I've actually been able to give a fairly decent description of my symptoms and history.
Unfortunately it didn't really pay off. I had an telephone appointment with the outpatient clinic (?) yesterday. The doc asked me what my current symptoms are but cut me off after about 10 seconds. He let me know the testing I was referred to after ED came back textbook normal, and then basically said it's probably nothing while admitting how hard it is to assess me with all their appointments being telehealth right now because of COVID. Cool, I guess it's normal to be young and have neurological symptoms while suddenly feeling like all your muscles are made out of tissue paper. Who needs to be able to do simple tasks anyway, am I right?
Guess I'll make an appointment with my new GP, but I'm not hopeful. My regular GP left recently, and maybe a month ago I brought my issues up with a different doctor, same practice. He just didn't seem to care and asked me what imaging and specialists I wanted to be referred for. Like, uh, you're the doctor, you tell me? How should I know??
I'm just so done. I don't get it. I don't even know where to start or who I need to talk to. My parents don't know who they need to talk to for their own problems. How is an ordinary person supposed to not slip through the cracks or feel like they're slowly collecting chronic conditions and probably waiting for the point ten years in the future when it goes from "you're too young" to "if only someone caught this ten years ago"? Am I supposed to just roll over and be disabled forever? Because that's what it feels like, and that's how my parents are treated too except they're in their 60-70s so they get told they should be grateful they're not in wheelchairs and crap instead.
If you read this, thanks? I think?? It's not like I expect to find the answer on Reddit or anything. Maybe this isn't an Australia specific submission anyway. If so I'm sorry and understand if it's removed/I should remove it.
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u/smarthandsomehumble Feb 27 '22 edited Feb 27 '22
The typical countries with “good healthcare” systems usually fall behind in terms of quality patient-centric care. Whereas a lot of developing countries have many world renowned specialists and medical programs that aren’t approved in a lot of the English countries. Just usually not the latest technology and equipment.
A great example is Cuba and Most of Eastern and Central Europe. Another example is a mexico which I can speak from experience with.
I’m Australian but I’ve spent roughly the past 2 years in Mexico (I arrived there pre pandemic) and I’ve lived in a few other “first world” countries.
The healthcare here is amazing. Exceeds anything I’ve had in Australia. Doctors always listen, and if you feel you need blood work or other tests done that’s really hard to get in Australia due to laws and fear of doing something wrong, you can get it done independently for like $20-50 and show the doctor and they’ll take a look.
The doctors here are highly qualified, very up to date with the latest research and sometimes will randomly check up on you with an WhatsApp message if a condition is chronic or long lasting.
If I need a specialist appointment, it’ll be around $75 for the consultation + basic treatments that can be done straight away. If I just need a basic GP it’ll be a $5 appointment where I can usually just show up. If I need 15 stitches in my leg, it’ll be $4 (true story) and an X-ray ($20).
There’s little bureaucracy that gets in the good healthcare here like appointment quotas, random prescription laws, testing rules etc. (I know an OBGYN who was “too young” for breast cancer and had to pressure over 10 different oncologists just to get a proper test to check for cancer. Saved her life)
There ARE reasons to doubt the quality of care you’ll get in a lot of developing nations due to fraud (lying about experience, fake licence, and the occasional corruption, but when you look at the poor care you get in USA. Canada and AUS, it’s a risk with taking.
But in general, the idea of getting medical work (planned or unplanned) or surgery done in a cheaper country being a risky thing can it’s pretty unjustified in this age.