You certainly speak the truth Randy. Even in NZ where healthcare is free our health system has been decimated every year to the point where it is just ridiculous. So lot of people think that New Zealand’s healthcare system is world class but unless you have been the victim of it you would think that. An example would be our waiting list system. In NZ different departments of the hospital have different waiting list times-for example 4 months for neurological. That’s sounds great you may think and you would be forgiven for thinking so. It doesn’t mean you get seen in 4 months. What it means is that if they can’t fit you in in 4 months then you don’t get an appointment at all. My wife has just had to wait 2 years for an mri and has got some of the worst news imaginable. If she had been seen a long time ago then things wouldn’t be so bad. And even though the terrible news was discovered by the mri, the radiologist sent a letter which was totally contradictory. It basically said that yes there was a big problem but that no there isn’t a problem all in the same paragraph. Luckily we have a good GP and he is fighting for her.
Last year I sold a property to an Australian mental health nurse. Him and his wife’s plans were to move here and get jobs. He found out about the mental health roles here and how our health system works and found that because of the crappy way it is run, mental health nurses have to wear crash helmets all day. They are now selling up and moving back to Australia.
Our specialists here also can’t be sued. That may be good for the specialists but it has led many of the not so moral ones to act whatever way they want without repercussions. Can you imagine someone having an epileptic seizure and the specialists deciding that the best course of action is to use cable ties to tie the wrists and ankles of the epileptic and getting 8 big men to sit on them while the seizure is happening. Imagine waking up in hospital bleeding and with cuts and bruises all over you from this experience. Now if I could sue then I’m sure this behaviour would never happen again in a NZ hospital but all I was told was that if I complain it will be their word against mine and I wouldn’t be believed. And they were right. And I’m not the only person this has happened to in Oamaru hospital. It has also happened to an epileptic child. I’m glad you brought this subject up Randy as you’ve hit the hammer on the nail. Great post and thank you for bringing people’s attention to this sorry state of affairs.
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