There are even problems in the UK with getting to see your GP. If you suffer from a chronic condition (i.e. it's not an emergency) then it can be hard even to get an appointment.
My own doctor is particularly good- and he has the patients to prove it. Sometimes have to book up to a week in advance to see him.
Be nice if it was possible to schedule your illnesses are his appointment book.
As for the story about the hospital- my mother in law was taken in some months ago and she experienced exactly the same thing- put in a ward and not seen by a doctor until after the weekend had passed. On another occasion when she was hospitalised she had to wait three days during the week to be seen by a doctor.
The big problem with the NHS seems to be the layer after layer of middle management sucking up all the finances. For each target the government sets to "improve the service", each hospital generally has to hire a manager (and his secretary and whatever else he needs) to see that the goals of the target are being met.
Seems to me we'd be much better going back to the days when the Sister of each ward was in control of it- instead of half a dozen (or more) overpaid bureaucrats.
For each target the government sets to "improve the service", each hospital generally has to hire a manager (and his secretary and whatever else he needs) to see that the goals of the target are being met.
That is a corollary of Parkinson's Law, namely that the total employees of a bureaucracy will grow continuously regardless of how much work, if any, is done by the bureaucracy.
I heard this short story many years ago:
A small town put in a park for the enjoyment of its citizens. The town council hired a gardener to keep it beautiful and a watchman to keep it safe.
But, that meant they now had a Parks Department. So, they hired a Parks Department Manager. Managers rate secretaries, so they hired a secretary. Then they leased a building for their office space (after all, the bureaucracy was growing elsewhere, too) and hired a janitor to keep it clean and tidy. Finally, a receptionist was hired to answer the phone (and keep the workload of the secretary more managable) and to greet the public at the office.
A the next budget meeting, the town council decided the Parks Department was costing too much money, so they laid off the gardener and watchman.
" Usually the response to this is something on the order of the defense of Communism: "It wouldn't be like that if everybody participated!" "
Bullshit indeed. My wife is a Kraut. She KNOWS about how it is run over there, and they ALL participate, willing or not. It is, of course, just more obfuscation on the left's part, in an attempt to get what they want, just like the whining five-year olds that they all are.
Yawn, nothing new, except thanks for writing the piece.
Usually the response to this is something on the order of the defense of Communism: "It wouldn't be like that if everybody participated!"
What this really means is that the failure of communism would be less obvious if there were no free market economies anywhere to stand as glaring evidence to the contrary.
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2006/03/dept.html (5 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Well, it's much better in Canada and Cuba! You can see a doctor, no problem, just don't expect any treatment.
There are even problems in the UK with getting to see your GP. If you suffer from a chronic condition (i.e. it's not an emergency) then it can be hard even to get an appointment.
My own doctor is particularly good- and he has the patients to prove it. Sometimes have to book up to a week in advance to see him.
Be nice if it was possible to schedule your illnesses are his appointment book.
As for the story about the hospital- my mother in law was taken in some months ago and she experienced exactly the same thing- put in a ward and not seen by a doctor until after the weekend had passed. On another occasion when she was hospitalised she had to wait three days during the week to be seen by a doctor.
The big problem with the NHS seems to be the layer after layer of middle management sucking up all the finances. For each target the government sets to "improve the service", each hospital generally has to hire a manager (and his secretary and whatever else he needs) to see that the goals of the target are being met.
Seems to me we'd be much better going back to the days when the Sister of each ward was in control of it- instead of half a dozen (or more) overpaid bureaucrats.
For each target the government sets to "improve the service", each hospital generally has to hire a manager (and his secretary and whatever else he needs) to see that the goals of the target are being met.
That is a corollary of Parkinson's Law, namely that the total employees of a bureaucracy will grow continuously regardless of how much work, if any, is done by the bureaucracy.
I heard this short story many years ago:
A small town put in a park for the enjoyment of its citizens. The town council hired a gardener to keep it beautiful and a watchman to keep it safe.
But, that meant they now had a Parks Department. So, they hired a Parks Department Manager. Managers rate secretaries, so they hired a secretary. Then they leased a building for their office space (after all, the bureaucracy was growing elsewhere, too) and hired a janitor to keep it clean and tidy. Finally, a receptionist was hired to answer the phone (and keep the workload of the secretary more managable) and to greet the public at the office.
A the next budget meeting, the town council decided the Parks Department was costing too much money, so they laid off the gardener and watchman.
Kevin,
My favorite part,
" Usually the response to this is something on the order of the defense of Communism: "It wouldn't be like that if everybody participated!" "
Bullshit indeed. My wife is a Kraut. She KNOWS about how it is run over there, and they ALL participate, willing or not. It is, of course, just more obfuscation on the left's part, in an attempt to get what they want, just like the whining five-year olds that they all are.
Yawn, nothing new, except thanks for writing the piece.
Usually the response to this is something on the order of the defense of Communism: "It wouldn't be like that if everybody participated!"
What this really means is that the failure of communism would be less obvious if there were no free market economies anywhere to stand as glaring evidence to the contrary.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>