Obligatory Health Service rant
The HSE is in the news again (when is it not?). For those who may not know the HSE is the Health Service Executive. It was formed three years ago with the mandate to improve the health services here in Ireland. They haven’t quite managed it yet nor do they look like they are going to either.
The health service here in Ireland is a shambles and that is putting it mildly. Just read Grandad’s post and you will get an idea. The notable thing about Grandad’s post is that those mentioned in his post have private health insurance. One shudders at the thought of how one would be treated otherwise. K8 (Grandad’s daughter) has another very detailed post about their recent experience and harrowing it is.
So what’s it like in another country? Well I have a tale to tell.
There is a friend of mine, Joe is his name. He is 52 and married with two kids but he still thinks he is in his mid 20′s. He is a very fit person and is a very strong swimmer. He can and does walk on the mountains here like a goat. He decided to take a weekend break recently and took himself off to Krakow in Poland on his own.
He visited the sites including Auschwitz twice but it was with two days of his holiday left that he found himself in hospital. He decided to go paragliding off a mountain! He enjoyed soaring around the mountains like an eagle for half an hour but it was with a very rough landing that he broke his ankle. Of course I found this hysterical what with his age and all he really should have known better but it was his experience in the hospital that made my jaw drop open.
He arrived in the hospital at 10:15am, He was wheeled into the doctor at 10:30am and then taken for an X-Ray. By 11am it was confirmed that his ankle was broken and it was reset. By 11:15am his ankle had been placed in a cast and by 11:30am he was back in his hotel eating his lunch. 1 hour 15 minutes, done and dusted.
He couldn’t get over how quick, prompt and efficient his experience was. Maybe someone from the HSE should take themselves off over to Poland and see how things are done there. Compare Joe’s experience in Poland to K8′s and Grandad’s mentioned above and then think, because their experience is the norm for the disgraceful service we recieve here.
For the doubters :- Joe’s story is very, very true. It is real and it happened and he had to wait three hours in a hospital here to get his cast removed.
They are all part of the same European Community.
Equal opportunity my aunt fanny!
Might be worth considering going abroad for any procedures Grannymar. At least that’s my line of thinking but that’s not an option in an emergency of course.
Frankly, I find your friend’s experience a bit scary. Not because he was treated well, but because it shows just what a shambles our system is in.
I heard Prof Drumm say on radio today that “the HSE has surveys to show that 90% of people are ‘satisfied’ with the health service”.
What planet does he live on?
Mary must have bribed him to say it, with one of her high-cal sandwiches!
Grandad – That is exactly the point I was making. He was absolutely shocked. It cost him €100 (which he didn’t mind paying obviously) but he will get that back with the scheme that they have now. I can’t remember the name but it was known as the E-111 (I think.)
Steph – I think most Doctors and Professors of his age and vintage are of a different ilk to the ones us mere mortals meet. That is back in the days when who you know got you the job, not what you know.
After todays (closed to the media) hearing, A Sinn Fein T.D. compared Drumm to Steve Staunton, the former R.O.I. football manager. i.e. he was a great player but than doesn’t make him a great manager. With Drumm he meant that he might be a world leading paediatrician (educated in Canada) but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is fit to control the entire health service.
As to the 90% satisfaction rate he must be listening to the very same people that told Bertie that a €31,000 pay rise was in order.
With all the shennanigans of the last few weeks it is plain and clear that the government and their advisors are purely made up of yes men and women. Who probably more than likely, would like to cling on to their jobs.
It’s really beyond a joke. Of course Mary Harney’s opinions on todays meeting was the only notiable exception, despite being the Minister for Health she was one of the only ones who didn’t make a comment. Go figure!
I wouldn’t say that our system is better from what it is in Ireland. I signed up for medical coverage abroad (E-111) and also had Euro<26 card with additional insurance. Thanks heavens I didn’t have to use it. I came back to Poland, watched TV from time to time and there were 2 topics discussed all the time – politics & health care system (nurses going on strike, evacuations of all people to other hospitals as doctors didn’t want to work because they wanted a pay rise etc). It really depends on where you are. I went with my 2 friends to hospital in Blanchardstown (appendix & sth connected with the kidneys). They were treated better than in their homeland…
I suppose it doesn’t really matter which country someone lives in but health services will always be the number one thing that people will complain about. Health services just seem to be a black hole as far as money is concerned. You can just keep pouring money into it and the problems will remain.
However these problems will remain as long as the system here in Ireland is completely weighed down in bureaucracy. Again I suppose it depends on the hospital too.
I agree with Robert. In my country public health care is very poor, so i have to private doctors even when I’m paying taxes…