sig
realisticaly theres no other way than to give people the medical attention as soon as possible
the longer people wait the more it costs tax payers anyway, as return trips for interim medical attention and follow ups still costs thousands as we all wait in line.
Im wondering if others like myself have watched their subsidised medical care / bills double in cost as they make regular return trips to the GP to be refered to specialists / when that simple operation would have initially cost a half of the $ of care that is stacked up by the time they recieve the proper medical attention
so who wins
the tax payer or the patient
no one
on top of this some injuries heal better if attended to in the early stages
by dragging out the waiting time its a catch 22
pretty stupid hey
whomever these patients happen to be
and whatever age
sooner is in my mind the cheaper option when it comes to medical costs
if care is left too long you might all be paying for wheel-chairs / taxies (special subsidised) medications AND pensions
so winge all you like, the bill just accumulates

You make a good point mariah. Perhaps during these boom times with large budget surpluses, we could be putting aside trust funds to help provide better funding for when the boom times run out down the track. The education fund announced in the last Budget is a good start - no reason the same cant apply to Health too.

Country Girl.
Hospitals come under States.
States dont have surpluses. They have huge debts. I put four years of research into the in home care for the elderly and produced figures to the Federal Government.

From there the advisor acted on several of the reports and launched an investigation which eventually at least resulted in some changes for the better.

Even in a high care home your looking at a small number staff being in charge of thirty or more people.

What is clear to me is although you complain about the elderly taking the beds in hospitals you have no counter plan to fix the problem.

Yes I was born in Kempsey and my family had to relocate when my brother was given only four days to live.
What would you suggest our family did under those circumstances.Stay there?
I have been here over thirty years so the Gold Coast is home.

Unlike you I have a deep concern and regard for our Eldery and prefer to find alternatives for them rather than snipe because they are in a hospital bed.

You might feel differently one day when you are an elderly person in the same postion as those you complain about now.
Yep I do think Australian Elderly People should come first
Absolutley.
Its called respect

You misunderstand me badly PALE. I watched my aunts nurse my grandmother through dementia - ended up so bad that all she could do was curl up in a chair, cross her arms over herself and rock and and forth sobbing. They nursed her for 14 years (80-94), with a few short breaks in nursing homes. Why my aunts and not my father? he was a single parents with 3 kids, and trying to work fulltime. He supported with money where he could, but not in the position to take on actual care himself. So yes, I have some idea what its like, and have a great appreciation for our elderly. Some friends are up to 50 years older than me, and I value their friendship greatly.

Home care is the best answer, but given that we cant even fund enough nursing home bed, full home care is a pipe-dream for most.

Yes, healthcare is a state responsibility, but largely funded by federal grants (like education). Federal surpluses can easily be put into trust for the earnings to be used by the states.

Nursing homes have staff training to look after the elderly. Hospitals have staff trained to look after the very sick and dying. Ratio's appear to be much the same. Most nursing home staff I have had anything to do with appear much more compassionate than nursing staff (one aunt was a local aged care co-ordinator, so again I have a little inside perspective on this).

Finally, I live in an area where you are not considered local unless you were born there. many families local history stretches back 150 years. So 30 years is pie in the sky. If you moved there, dont snipe at others who have/do. bad case of the pot calling the kettle black!

My pet hate regarding wasted medical resources is the amount of medicare funded doctor consultations are used solely to get medical certificates to satisfy paranoid or lazy employers. Whether because of a cold, flu, injury or other ailment, a great many employers demand employees produce medical certificates for every day they miss. They do so as a matter of policy, even when the superviser has seen that the employee is sick. Some doctors will write a certificate for only a day or so and then invite you back again (milking the system). On most occasions there's no medical reason for the consult and no treatment is warranted.

I have no idea how much, but I'll bet a great deal of money could be saved by simply requiring employers to pay for such consults, in which case they'd only request them on occassions when they have reason to be suspicious. The current system is just a complete waste of public funds and the country's medical resources.

My 10c whinge.

County Girl
Its clear you have done little research into funding for in home care.
Let me make it simple for you.
The tax payer funds around fourteen hours a week. Funds are sent to the States.
QLD ACAT[ QLD Government refer packages to private providers which are nornally Church Based organisations.
The average service is about three hours a week and max is six hours .
Often [ very often] its one and a half hours.

Thats around ten hours a week funding thats being waisted.
Thats States lack of organisation and of course the Churches have their costs.

These packages or contracts are held over the heads of wanting providers in the form of votes.

Now if you take that fourteen hours a week per person and put it direct into in home care you have at least two part time carers working one on one.
It takes far more than that to build new homes staff fund them and keep up repairs and maintance.

If you allowed family or carers and clients to employ two part time staff to assist you - say up to seven hundred and fitfy a week.

This money could also go direct to a agent of the client and family choice, ie Dial an Angel.

Or two carers at $350.00 a week. [ More employment and more taxes being paid.
Many people also have family that are happy to help out but cant do it full time.

Re 30 old shift. While I still have interests in Kempsey I can assure you thirty years ago the Gold Coast needed new business projects.
Not so now.
We are so short of water and Drs and medical staff its pushing the locals out the back door.
] " Especially our elderly'
Thats not right.