Originally Posted by gazmart999
I will now standy for all the flak, but before you reply...have a think!
Oh I've thought about it. And being married to a specialist doctor, I've toned down substantially what I want to say so the mods won't ban me.
So lets just have a little look at this, it's ok that we sit in a doctors surgery for hours on end waiting, I know I have waited over 4 hrs to see a doctor. Did I get any compansation? what did I get?
Totally different situation. While some consults can indeed be done within the usual allotted 10-15 minutes, doctors rarely ever know in advance what the patient is there for. By the time they've taken a history, asked questions, listened patiently to a bunch of anecdotal stories from the patient, and done an examination, this time can blow out and it snowballs as the day goes on. But patients would complain even louder than you are, if they were rudely shunted in and out to make the "cutoff" time. When they're running late, it usually means they're actually taking the time to sit down and listen and talk to the patients. I know of a couple of bulk-billing medical centres where the pakistani immigrant doctors will happily shunt you in and out in the allotted time before you've barely had time to even open your mouth and say aah. Their wait time is usually pretty good.
Nothing. Doctor saw me for 10mins...$160 thanks...Come back and see me next week..what?? so I can wait another 4 hrs....
You obviously had something that needed to be checked or they wouldn't have told you that. You're always free to ignore their advice and not come back, ever, at your own risk.
Our out patient departments in hospitals are a joke. How long do we wait in them?
Easy fixed. Next time the ambos rush past you in the hospital waiting area with the woman on the stretcher who needs an emergency caesarian to save her life and that of the baby, why don't you just trip them up and say "excuse me, but get back in line"? My wife gets bumped by emergency cases all the time. It's frustrating for specialist and frustrating for patient, but unless people stop getting critically ill or injured, there's nothing anyone can do about it.
... but, lets be fair, the medical proffession in Australia is taking us all for a ride, and a worse one that what REX provide.
You are the exact sort of patient my wife talks about when she gets home. "Had an obnoxious prat today who waltzed into the consult with a couple of internet printouts, proceeded to tell me what was wrong with him which upon examination was totally incorrect, then whinged about the wait which was due to me having to counsel the previous patient who was severely depressed due to her ongoing disabilities after her car accident, then whinged about the cost of the consult. I didn't study and train for 15 years to listen to someone hack on me 5 minutes after meeting them. Listening to even 30 seconds of his crap isn't worth $160, so I hope he never comes back."
Apologies for thread drift. The trials and tribulations of the medical system have absolutely nothing to do with this arrogant and inconsiderate response from Rex Management.