Better health system in oz or uk

[Guest The Pom Queen]

We have discussed this before, I have to say so far Australia has been far more superior. As you all know I've had a crap time over the last 4 years, whilst in Melbourne I never had private health, my dr was great always bulk billed, hospital staff were A1, I never had to wait to get admitted it was usually the same day or max 3 days. Since moving up to Cairns unfortunately it's probably the worst thing I could do health wise, we have limited surgeons, long waiting lists etc, my GP told me from day one to take out private cover. Thankfully I'm glad I listened, I had more bad news and needed a surgery where it's very high risk, we didn't have a surgeon capable of doing it in Cairns so it was going to Brisbane or me finding my own surgeon and doing it that way. I chose the best specialist with the highest success rate only issue was he was based in Sydney. Even though in 3 days time it will be exactly 12 month since the op I had 6 months in hospital I have had first class treatment, all the different surgeons, specialists etc gave me their mobiles, In fact I've recently had to get an emergency referral back to my surgeon, my Dr faxed him through the referral at 5pm and my surgeon was calling me at 8:30pm from home. Now you wouldn't get a service like that back in the UK. Yes it's cost me more to go private and I've got to pay out $1000 for some other tests before heading back to Sydney but I will get some back from Medicare and I am more than happy to pay for the service I receive. Believe me if anyone is qualified on commenting from a patients prospective I think it's me, I think I keep them all in a job lol.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Have you signed up for the Safety nets! you have the Medicare Safety net and the PBS Safety Net http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/pbs-safety-net

[Petals]

Why does everyone think its free, its not free in England or here if you pay your instalments. The only people who get it free are those who are unemployed and pay no instalments.

 

I prefer the Aus system because I like the fact that I can go to the GP they can recommend a specialist and if I don't want that one I get another one, etc. Also our family have never had a problem getting treatment straight away when needed. The way my daughter is looked after with her cancer is wonderful and she will see her oncologist next week, he is always on time, so if he says 3 pm its 3 pm and whilst there he has a radiation oncologist and a surgeon with him so that if they find a problem they can plan her treatment straight away and she does not pay, her medicare levy has paid.

 

My sister in law worked in the NHS for 30 years and was high up when she retired and its a minefield and its luck if you live near a good hospital, whereas here we can choose which hospital even if public patient.

[Slean Wolfhead]

You can't compare either country because you can't compare like for like. Oz is spread across different states, both rural and urban.

In the UK you can get great care in some hospitals and emergency rooms are pretty good across the board, but you can die of dehydration or be left to lie in your own excrement in others. See Stafford, and that isn't the only one.

[koopmaster]

you pay in the uk for health but its compulsory, and its crap

[caramac]

There are more similarities than differences between the systems.

We've had good and bad experiences in both. Just last week my daughter was ill. She got steadily worse and eventually told me of more symptoms which made me believe she needed to be seen. It was 7pm so I called 111. The woman on the line spoke to my daughter and decided she should see a dr, so made an appointment for her to see the out of hours GP at the local emergency care centre at 9.30pm that night. We turned up on time and she was seen immediately, given the meds she needed and we were home by 10.15.

A few weeks earlier she was seen at the GP for another problem. She was referred for an urgent appointment with a consultant, was seen within the week, had all sorts of tests on the same day, got the results and went home.

Just the same experience as I had last year. Fantastic service.

We're very lucky in Australia and the UK to be able to access good quality healthcare, when we need it, regardless of our ability to pay. We have safe (mostly!) hospitals, well trained staff, good preventative medicine, access to up to date drugs and procedures and people involved in research to improve care and treatment. I'm very grateful to have been born into one country and become a citizen of another where we can take healthcare for granted.

[Lisa Anne Pope]

The NHS is good if you don't work and/or have drug and alcohol problems - you'll get lots of attention to your wants and needs (or so it seems), otherwise it can be a fairly frustrating system for everyone else. Not everything is free on the NHS - my GP tried to refer me to Podiatry and I got a letter back saying I didn't qualify under the NHS as the waiting list was too long and they were only seeing people who were completely immobile and since I could still walk I would have to go privately so I have spent £180 so far. I think there probably isn't enough money going in to the NHS to be able to offer the same service as private and I can't see any political party winning an election on telling everyone they will have to quadruple (or more) their NI contributions.

[whichway1]

I've had excellent treatment in the Uk and in Oz as well as poor treatment in the UK and in Oz. I have worked in the NHS and public health system in Oz for significant enough time periods to comment. I honestly think most of the time, the service you receive is entirely dependent on the hospital or treatment centre you attend and the health professionals you have contact with no matter which country you are in. I was recently in an NHS hospital for a day surgery, the procedure itself was awful, as is the nature of the procedure, but, I can honestly say the care was absolutely second to none. I honestly think it has more to do with regions and particular staff than countries as a whole. I did find living in Oz expensive for health care though and I do think national insurance is a lot too, but then, it still doesn't cover the outgoings of the NHS.

[Paul1Perth]

Regardless of the cost, the hospitals are far superior in Australia because they are newer and better equipped than uk hospitals.

 

Also people love the NHS cause the 'believe' it to be free. It is not free it is only free on demand. You pay through NHS contributions which are substantial.

 

I may as well use that money and pay for minimum hospital cover in Melbourne and be treated at a very well equipped hospital.

 

Also speaking from experience I've been treated in both systems and OMG there is a difference. I'm Melbourne they couldn't do enough for me whereas i was left waiting for 5 hours without so much as a cup of tea.

 

Come on people don't seriously think uk health system is better !!!

 

I think it depends where you live in both places. If you live near a big City in the UK the hospitals and doctors surgeries are going to packed. If you live a bit out of a City and have a good hospital and a local doctor it would be a lot better. I would imagine if you lived in Sydney or Melbourne and went to casualty it would be pretty busy there too. We used to live near Manchester and had pretty good service. We've had excellent service here too, bulk billing doctor, every time any of the family, including me, have had to go to A&E we've been seen to very quickly and affectively. We are close to Joondalup hospital so it's new, expanding and very well equipped.

 

We are lucky I guess in that we are a pretty healthy family and haven't had that many health issues. If you have long term issues that need a lot of visits to doctors and a lot of medication it's going to cost a lot in either country. Gone are the days when the state will pay for everything. Health care costs have gone through the roof, mostly due to the technology. Couple that with ageing population and people living longer and needing looking after there just isn't the money around to pay for it.

 

Long term I still think Aus is in better nick money wise than the UK.

[Paul1Perth]

If you like the idea of having to pay health insurance then the Australian/American is the best for you. You can afford the best treatment, you will get it.

 

Now the idea of someone being too sick to work and not having the funds to pay for this, leaves them in a very poor situation.

I was shocked at hearing how people have to pay for ambulances here in Australia.

Ambulance cover is available pretty cheaply. Let's face it how many times have you needed and ambulance. I'm 60 and I've had to use and ambulance 3 times.

Shocked at how you have to pay to see a doctor.

You don't, our doctor and a lot of others bulk bill. I even had a vasectomy done under bulk billing, just rang around a few docs till I found one that did it. Went to see him one week next week I got the op done in his surgery under local anaesthetic.

In my opinion healthcare should be free for all.

IMO too but in the real world it's just become too expensive for any government to fund it.

It should be a service provided by the government, not a business!

Try getting cover for a pre-existing condition and have all the expenses paid for that.

 

[Que Sera Sera]

If you like the idea of having to pay health insurance then the Australian/American is the best for you. You can afford the best treatment, you will get it.

 

Ambulance cover is available pretty cheaply. Let's face it how many times have you needed and ambulance. I'm 60 and I've had to use and ambulance 3 times.

You don't, our doctor and a lot of others bulk bill. I even had a vasectomy done under bulk billing, just rang around a few docs till I found one that did it. Went to see him one week next week I got the op done in his surgery under local anaesthetic.

IMO too but in the real world it's just become too expensive for any government to fund it.

 

My OH had a vasectomy under General Anesthetic and ended up paying $55 after the medicare rebate. I ddon't think anyone could describe that as expensive. No waiting list either, he got to choose the date.

[docboat]

As an aside - healthcare for free? Not possible. There is always a cost, it is a high cost and it is getting higher. You either fund it out of the tax money you give, or you fund it out of your pocket, either via private health insurance or straight from your pocket. The concept of free healthcare only really applies to bludgers who don't work, pay no tax and get to use the "free" system - which makes it more expensive for everybody else. Personally speaking, I don't like to pay for someone else to suck my money out of the system - the druggies, the dole bludgers, the scammers.

 

As for a comparison of the two systems - it depends very much on where you live.

[Petals]

I agree that health care is good in both countries and its the luck of the draw really whether its a good outcome or bad one. I mean I don't know about any of you but when I have been in hospital and have twice recently its only as good as the people on shift, the care can change dramatically with a shift change lol. Just like every other work place there is the gooduns and the notsogooduns and unfortunately we cannot really judge a whole system by those experiences.

 

I being older have health insurance and if I was in the UK I would probably have it there as well as I need new bits and bobs and do not want to have to wait for them, I mean I might pop my clogs and miss out whilst waiting

[jasepom]

You do have to weigh up both systems as invariably there will be people whose circumstances are suited to one or the other. I tend to think of what would happen in an emergency. Ambulance cover aside there are newer hospitals in Australia so I'd rather be treated here. Professionals reside in both counties and yes you can find good and bad.

 

i think the UK system is struggling because it's so weighed down with debt it's having to cut services and staff. They need to rethink the NHS if it is going to survive. But yes it's still ranked highly and if you live head a great hospital congrats.

[Chortlepuss]

Although I believe in free healthcare for all, I wish there could be controls in the UK to stop people taking the p1ss. My mate who heads up A&E in a large hospital says at least 25% of people present with non emergency problems - she sees a fair few teen girls with period pain for instance. She has embraced the economic downturn as she says her drunks and druggies are largely at the weekends now as people are cutting back on abusive substances. And while I'm sympathetic to the plight of old people living on their own visiting the Dr for a chat (my poor mum is a serial offender), it seems like a terrible waste of resources. The number times I gave out placebos as a pharmacy assistant (way back in my youth) to older people was shocking. Probably got worse over the years.

[LKC]

Healthcare can't be free, the money has to come from somewhere. Healthcare in the UK is free at the point of use, but the service is paid for by the population. It is a wonderful idea, and back when it was first introduced (back in the 1940's if I remember correctly), I would bet that it transformed peoples lives. Hardworking people, who had not previously been able to afford healthcare now could, simply by paying a small contribution from each pay packet. It is something that the UK should be proud of. However, there will always be people who abuse and misuse a system such as this (particularly in the 'entitled to' population in which we now live), and that is where the NHS comes unstuck, in my opinion. Different areas have different rules for what can and can't be covered by the NHS, and frequently there are stories in the papers about people who had (imo) unnecessary cosmetic procedures paid for by the NHS, where others who could have life-changing surgeries or medications are refused. I am not saying that all cosmetic procedures are wasteful or unnecessary, by the way, just that some are.

 

OH and I have been trying to get our heads around the Australian healthcare system recently. Not because any of us have been sick (we rarely visit the doctors, although we have used GP's psychologists and the A&E/ambulance services here on infrequent occasion), but because OH's salary is likely for the first time to push us in to the extra medicare levy thing next year. We keep being advised to take out medical insurance to avoid the extra levy, but that we should continue to use medicare anyway, because the gap payments are usually quite big. To me, this presents somewhat of a moral dilemma. You pay for insurance so as to get out of paying an extra levy to medicare (which we would be able to afford), but are being advised that should we need any treatment that medicare is the way to go. Surely, it is more socially responsible to pay a bit extra in to medicare if you can afford it if you are going to use the service. Maybe I have totally misunderstood the system, but that is what my friends keep telling me. Maybe I am just a bit of a sucker with a social conscience.

 

We have had good and bad experiences with the NHS. I had some surgery to my foot many years ago, and was told by the surgeon afterwards, that he had done the wrong operation and that he should have done a different one. I had two babies with the NHS and had one appalling experience in a large and well-regarded teaching hospital (the same one that I had the foot surgery with), and one wonderful experience with a small hospital. We haven't had much experience with the hospitals in Australia but on the couple of occasions that we have been to the hospital (one visit for suspected meningitis with youngest three days after we arrived and with a blue-light ride to the hospital in an ambulance, and once for a fractured foot), we have been seen promptly and efficiently.