Ok I'm on Long Island, I have 10+ huge hospitals plus probably thousands of specialty offices for things from dermatology to radiologist. if one place is booked for months I can call 20 other places within 15 minutes of me and get a earlier appointment. So I think location means a lot in these scenarios.
USPS is not a traditionally government funded program; they get their revenue through operations. And they would be doing fine if it weren't for republicans constantly trying to push them out of business. Like in 2006 where they decided that USPS had to pre-fund retirement health packages. Something we would never expect other businesses to do:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/arti...s-not-amazon-messed-up-the-u-s-postal-service
At what point did triage determine that 11 weeks was an acceptable wait time for an MRI? Why not just set up more machines and more centers to do imaging?
"The doctor was not available to see me at exactly the time of my appointment" is a complaint that is pretty much never going to be solved by the US or Canadian system. OP never said he had to wait weeks, just that it was scheduled weeks in advance -- which really makes no difference when the office is running behind on the particular day of your appointment.
Depends on the country. I pretty much never had to wait to see my doctor in Germany, and most specialist appointments were within a week, even getting same day MRI once.
Or it could just be that the Canadian system is underfunded and bureaucrats have decided that current wait times are within acceptable limits.
I would probably draw a distinction between "The doctor I wanted to see was not available for weeks" and "This procedure is unavailable anywhere for weeks." Ultimately my point was just that having to wait 45 minutes past your appointment time is pretty small potatoes. Sitting around in a waiting room is frustrating, but you can't expect a doctor's office to behave like a Chick-Fil-A.
Well it makes me wonder if Canadians have clinics. Not every emergency is a "go to the ER emergency".
Is CTV considered right-wing media? It's a Canadian TV network that is reporting wait times are at their longest in decades.
A couple of years ago, I called up the NHS support line - 111, for non emergencies; the emergency number is 999 - complaining about some minor - well, severe enough for me to ring a doctor - abdominal pains at about nine PM, and I had an appointment literally within the hour. (Thankfully, it turned out it was just trapped gas.)
Yeah it seems like right-wingers have a problem with successful government programs and constantly do their best to undermine their ability to function. It's almost like they make their arguments in bad faith.
No, not a problem in The Netherlands. If I need emergency care I can go the Emergency Room and depending on the urgency of my sickness or injury and those of the others there I can either be helped immediately, quickly, or at worst within an hour or two at the most. I also have a 24/7 option to go to the GP or get a house call if needed. There is always the option of calling my own GP and getting a same day appointment or I can go to a shared GP's office that is manned during non-office hours, if my sickness or injury isn't as serious as the ER.
Walk-ins are all over the place, at least here in Southern Ontario.
I totally believe you and support single payer. It's just I'm hearing conflicting stories about Canadians and being able to see a doctor on time. I want to think it's a conservative fantasy - but idk - just look at some posts in this thread.
Yes, to be clear, I'm not suggesting that an MRI/CT/ultrasound wait time is really a fair benchmark for the entire medical system.
I think a lot of this from everyone (not just Canadians) is that we as people are bad at determining how serious our own issues are. Of course the doctors and nurses would be better about prioritizing treatment; as to seeing a family doctor, that's why you book checkups. If it's an immediate need for medical attention but not something that's torturous, that's what the walk-ins are for.
