We want what we have always wanted, service {doctors and nurses} enough to provide a service, more training places made available in Australian Universities for same.

And private Emergency rooms, for private patients, at private hospitals.

A good public system, fully funded to be the equal of any in the world. Howard has $15 billion in the bank, let him spend some of it on Medicare, and State public hospitals, and increasing Uni places for doctors and nurses.

Hi Shonga,

Why the private emergency room...just wondering. I would have thought given the shortage of doctors this would only spread them thinner? I think just increasing doctors at one emergency centre would be more beneficial to all.
Cheers

What I want is four-fold.

Firstly, a yielding of the closed shop by the medical profession. Someone with four years training and a couple of years supervised experience can do much of what our precious, cossetted doctors can do at half the cost. All that is needed is for nurse practitioners to have enough common sense to refer on situations that are too difficult for them to diagnose or deal with. The present Rolls-Royce system denies access to many, and cossets the rich. Can we have a medical Toyota system instead?

Secondly, I want to see expenditure on illness care split rationally between hospitals, nursing homes and services that support home care. There are thousands of people occupying hospital beds who need not be there. Everyone knows what to do to fix this. Why aren't we doing it?

Thirdly, I want to see more effort go into HEALTH care, as a preventive strategy to illness. As part of that we might do something to reduce the incidence of illnesses and deaths caused by the health system itself. Can we put more fences at the top of the cliff and fewer ambulances at the bottom?

Finally, I want to see the byzantine funding labyrinth: federal, state, private insurance, government health fund subsidies, tax rebates and the rest, all rationalised.

We are paying too much and receiving too little.

I have just had an interesting few months healthwise, which serves to indicate the importance of preventative measures.

About 8 years ago, my PSA had gone up to nearly 15 and my then GP told me that if I didn't immediately have an operation to remove my prostate, then within 2 years I would be in a bad way, possibly approaching death. I told him that I was going to treat myself with supplements. He read the riot act to me and got my wife on one side and nearly scared her to death. He told me to go to Fremantle hospital and have a biopsy "and maybe you'll listen to them if you won't listen to me".

So I had a biopsy and this showed that cancer was present in my prostate. When I discussed my decision to use supplements to control it, the Fremantle hospital doctor was totally different to my GP. He said that he respected my decision and congratulated me on being so well informed.

I am very health and fitness conscious and had been taking minerals and trace elements, antioxidants and multi-vitamins for years. For my prostate, I added a product containing saw palmetto and other herbs. Everything I took was approved by the TGA.

Until recently my PSA level remained about the same and I had no symptoms of prostate trouble.

Then a few months ago I tore a muscle in my chest mixing cement in a wheelbarrow, a notoriously awkward job. When the pain got worse instead of better, I went to a physiotherapist. She started by telling me how amazingly fit I am for my age [72 in August] and told me that I would be OK in a few weeks. Unfortunately this did not happen and she was puzzled as to why.

To be continued.

Then I had a touch of flu which seemed to leave me unnaturally weak. I went to see my GP [a different one] and he took blood for testing. My PSA had shot up to 296 and I was sent for a full body bone scan. This showed that the cancer from the prostate had seeded into my bones in various places, particularly in the area of the torn muscle. So now we knew why the pain in that area was not responding to treatment like it should.

The GP told me that, due to my very healthy lifestyle, the cancer was non-aggressive and slow moving and nowhere near as widespread as was customary. He sent me to see an oncologist, who also congratulated me on my fitness level and said my healthy lifestyle and the supplements I was taking had held the cancer back for 8 years. The oncologist gave me some tablets and within two or three days, the improvement was remarkable. I had more like my usual energy level, the frequency and urgency of urination, both during the day and at night, dropped back to something like normal and the pain in my chest and back disappeared.

I went to see the oncologist yesterday and feel pleased with what he said. I had an injection which takes over from the tablets and lasts 3 months. And he doesn't expect to need to see me again until June.

To me, one of the most significant things is that my GP and physiotherapist approve of me taking supplements and the specialist is particularly approving.

It looks like I will need neither an operation, chemotherapy, nor radiotherapy. So I've saved the health system a fortune. But I have to pay GST on my supplements and many health professionals would have told me that I was just wasting my money.

If I ask you,what is your income?But if I want to know how much is of your health.You can answer my first question in terms of money per year,but for second question such direct answer is not possible.So,a better measure is yet to be developed for health to say.