We had a health scare in the family this afternoon and after I picked up my family member I debated whether to head to the public hospital emergency department or a doctor's clinic. The health scare was serious but didn't seem to be immediately life threatening so I called my local doctor.
They had no appointments, so I headed to the bulk billing clinic in Preston to see how long the waiting time was. There were 20 people with appointments to see 5 doctors and another 10 people who were waiting for the first available doctor. The receptionist took one look at my family member and decided to have her assessed by a nurse straight away.
Within 2 minutes (I'm not kidding) the nurse was with us and my family member was assessed. We were told a doctor would be with us shortly. Within 3 minutes (again, not kidding) the doctor arrived, conducted the examination, asked questions and diagnosed a severe allergic reaction.
10 minutes after we arrived we walked out with a diagnosis (and peace of mind), antihistamine and a doctor's certificate. We weren't charged for the assessment and diagnosis. We didn't take up a bed in an emergency department, we didn't take the doctor away from other patients for very long and we got the care we needed at no cost.
I know that it doesn't always work this way and sometimes it is just the luck of the draw, but to me this is a very clear sign that Medicare works.
If there had been a co-payment (as our govt wants to introduce) I am certain I would have gone straight to the hospital emergency department and would either still be sitting there waiting or, more importantly, we would be taking up a hospital bed unnecessarily.
Medicare works and it's worth fighting for.
http://www.savemedicare.org.au/
