Thursday, October 30, 2008
You don't look sick!
I went to see my doctor at the local medical centre the other day. I was suffering from a throat infection for nearly a week then and it hasn’t improved. I knew I needed some antibiotics.
When I arrived at the medical centre, I approached the counter and said to the receptionist, “I like to see the doctor”.
She looked at me and said, “Do you have an appointment?”
I said, “No.,”
She said, “Our appointments are all full today.”
I said, “ I rang up earlier, and you asked me to come in and wait.”
She said, “The doctor can see you in between seeing those with appointments. But it is a long wait. I can book an appointment for you next week.”
I said, “ I don’t want an appointment next week. I want to see the doctor today because I am sick.”
She said, “You don’t look sick!”
I said,” What about those who made appointments for today? How would they know they would be sick today?”
She gave me a frown and swapped my Medicare card. I said nothing and waited for the next 1 ½ hours before seeing the doctor for 3 minutes to get my prescription script. I wouldn’t want to be there if I did not need that desperate prescription.
During the long wait, I have more than sufficient time to ponder why the medical centre is always packed. I saw many elderly peoples and young mothers with children. Most of these people did not look sick to me. There were very few people of working age like me. It now struck me what the receptionist had just said, “You don’t look sick.” With due respect to those who are genuine sick and needed to see a doctor, or those who need to follow up with an existing medical condition, it drawn on me that those waiting to see a doctor appeared to be people who have the time to wait. And are they really sick?
Under the government’s very good health care system, it cost nothing to see a doctor. The patients only need to pay for the medicine. In our society, there are many people who have more than enough time and needed some socialising. Seeing the doctor is a form of interaction with the society, which costs nothing. This is particularly so for the elderly. It become less important whether they are sick or not. Hence appointments were made on a regular basis putting a big strain on the medical services system. Perhaps this is the root cause of overcrowding at the medical centre. Because it is a free consultation, it is easily subject to overuse or abuse. The end result is that genuine sick taxpayer who supported the economy are not accorded the proper health care they deserve.
If the patient who saw the doctor were asked to make a small payment towards the service, would it free up some appointment time for genuine sick patients? Would the not really sick patients consider spending that small amount of money elsewhere instead of at the medical centre to get some socialising? I suppose a small compulsory co-payment by each patient who sees a doctor would help to ease the situation of over usage of the medical system.
When I arrived at the medical centre, I approached the counter and said to the receptionist, “I like to see the doctor”.
She looked at me and said, “Do you have an appointment?”
I said, “No.,”
She said, “Our appointments are all full today.”
I said, “ I rang up earlier, and you asked me to come in and wait.”
She said, “The doctor can see you in between seeing those with appointments. But it is a long wait. I can book an appointment for you next week.”
I said, “ I don’t want an appointment next week. I want to see the doctor today because I am sick.”
She said, “You don’t look sick!”
I said,” What about those who made appointments for today? How would they know they would be sick today?”
She gave me a frown and swapped my Medicare card. I said nothing and waited for the next 1 ½ hours before seeing the doctor for 3 minutes to get my prescription script. I wouldn’t want to be there if I did not need that desperate prescription.
During the long wait, I have more than sufficient time to ponder why the medical centre is always packed. I saw many elderly peoples and young mothers with children. Most of these people did not look sick to me. There were very few people of working age like me. It now struck me what the receptionist had just said, “You don’t look sick.” With due respect to those who are genuine sick and needed to see a doctor, or those who need to follow up with an existing medical condition, it drawn on me that those waiting to see a doctor appeared to be people who have the time to wait. And are they really sick?
Under the government’s very good health care system, it cost nothing to see a doctor. The patients only need to pay for the medicine. In our society, there are many people who have more than enough time and needed some socialising. Seeing the doctor is a form of interaction with the society, which costs nothing. This is particularly so for the elderly. It become less important whether they are sick or not. Hence appointments were made on a regular basis putting a big strain on the medical services system. Perhaps this is the root cause of overcrowding at the medical centre. Because it is a free consultation, it is easily subject to overuse or abuse. The end result is that genuine sick taxpayer who supported the economy are not accorded the proper health care they deserve.
If the patient who saw the doctor were asked to make a small payment towards the service, would it free up some appointment time for genuine sick patients? Would the not really sick patients consider spending that small amount of money elsewhere instead of at the medical centre to get some socialising? I suppose a small compulsory co-payment by each patient who sees a doctor would help to ease the situation of over usage of the medical system.
