Billboards Showing ER Wait Times Appear In Tampa Bay Area

[GinandTonic]

Very good idea in the big cities.

2 hours to see a Doctor in the NHS is good anytime.

A cursory search seems to indicate that only one hospital in the country has a two hour wait. So if by "good" you mean "the worst A&E in the country", then sure. Edinburgh Royal Infirmary FWIW.

 

[Quackers]

Very good idea in the big cities.



A cursory search seems to indicate that only one hospital in the country has a two hour wait. So if by "good" you mean "the worst A&E in the country", then sure. Edinburgh Royal Infirmary FWIW.

Nope went to Lymington Hospital in south of England - with a broken finger. Had to wait at least 2 hours for any treatment from doctors. Don't trust the NHS remember they are "self-regulators" so they tickbox everything which is good. For instance recently the 10 hospitals with the worst death rates in England were given "Excellant" or "Good" by the government. Don't trust the government itis the bigggest corporation of the lot constantly wanting to increase its power, increase taxes, force your kids to take sex ed and take away your guns (well they already have bizarely). This new labour government is notoriously good at hiding away the true statistics and facts from the population - to try and show that it is an effective force.

So I'm not listening to any "official" statistic. It has been massaged almost as much as a Maoist Commuist party officiall during the Great Leap Forward.

 

[Karalysia]

The NHS is clearly terrible as it's failing to provide adequate psychiatric help and counseling to its population. For shame.

 

[Ulyaoth]

Quackers did you get warped in from 1770s New England?

 

[Quackers]

Quackers did you get warped in from 1770s New England?

Incredibly yes!

 

[GinandTonic]

Nope went to Lymington Hospital in south of England - with a broken finger. Had to wait at least 2 hours for any treatment from doctors. Don't trust the NHS remember they are "self-regulators" so they tickbox everything which is good. For instance recently the 10 hospitals with the worst death rates in England were given "Excellant" or "Good" by the government. Don't trust the government itis the bigggest corporation of the lot constantly wanting to increase its power, increase taxes, force your kids to take sex ed and take away your guns (well they already have bizarely). This new labour government is notoriously good at hiding away the true statistics and facts from the population - to try and show that it is an effective force.

So I'm not listening to any "official" statistic. It has been massaged almost as much as a Maoist Commuist party officiall during the Great Leap Forward.

If we are talking anecdotes here the last three times I've been to A&E there was no meaningful wait. First incident was in the countryside and the ambulance driver worried we wouldnt be able to get back to the festival after getting my mates arm stitched up, so he called a tiny local cottage hospital to see if there was a doctor about the place on saturday evening. There was and she stayed there to wait for us.

The second time after hitting my finger with a hammer I had to get a septic cuticle lanced. It was a rainy tuesday evening and the staff out numbered the patients. The third time was getting a couple of stitches for a mate who fainted and hit his head. There was no delay in seeing the jr doc and getting stitches but we did have to wait fifteen mins or so for a more senior doc to ok the decision that there was no need to bugger about with scans for a head injury.

 

[TheLastOne36]

We're lower than Morocco? Dear God.

Actually, now that you mentioned it.. I knew this Moroccan guy in Toronto, who was my barbour. He had major back problems, and to get it repaired in Canada, he had to pay around 80,000 dollars to get it done.

So he went to his country Morocco, and got the same procedure for only 5,000 $ US.

Thought it was interesting to share.

Colombia has gotten a lot better since the 80s. It isn't some hell-hole.

And yes it is a hell-hole. If you ever thought Venezuela was bad... Avoid Colombia.

 

[Ulyaoth]

I used to think they were equally hell-holish. Your posts make Venezuela seem a maybe tolerable place actually. Granted I have extremely high standards for places to live.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

The NHS is clearly terrible as it's failing to provide adequate psychiatric help and counseling to its population. For shame.

Pfft. Psychiatry and therapy are nothing but shams/scams.

 

[TheLastOne36]

I used to think they were equally hell-holish. Your posts make Venezuela seem a maybe tolerable place actually. Granted I have extremely high standards for places to live.

Tolerable is the right word. Because I have snapped from time to time. (They are increasing the number of blackouts... I now get two blackouts per day, 2 hours each, everyday excluding Sunday because nobody works on Sunday) If you can tolerate the blackouts than good enough.

It depends on where you are, I live in the quiet city of Merida, in the tourism area, So IMO it is just as safe as any Western City. Although I'd be afraid of Caracas.

Although there are numerious things that make the experience not so pleasent. First of all, The Driving. Driving here is nuts. You have not experienced Driving until you come to Venezuela. Secondly, the people. Most people are very nice and friendly like everywhere, but the minority that spoils everything is a bigger minority in Venezuela. Not to mention you can't rely on them. Lying and being to lazy to do things is sadly a very present Venezuelan trait.

Thirdly, Crazy Chavez and all the messed up things in life like Blackouts. And Fourthly, the people aren't smart enough to figure out that working on Sundays is very profitable, much more profitable than working during the week. Annoys me alot, since I'm pretty used to doing all my shopping during the weekend, and doing everything on Saturday is to hard. (Not to mention that alot of people close down there shops for Saturday as well).

I am probably making Venezuela sound better than it is on these forums, because I don't mention all those little things here. Those little things is what makes living here much worse, and is the reason why Venezuela is labeled as third world. But then again, It's much better than Colombia, it isn't fighting a civil war, and you don't need to be afraid that each day your life could end. (unless you are very cautious with the streets...)

 

[Traitorfish]

...take away your guns (well they already have bizarely).

Worth noting, at the point, that of the two major acts restricting firearms in the last few decades, one was passed by Thatcher's government in response to the Hungerford Massacre, outlawing the possession of certain shotguns and rifles. Blair's later act, in response to massive public outcry after the Dunblane Massacre, merely outlawed most remaining forms of semi-automic, rifle and shotgun. It is still legal to own certain firearms in Northern Ireland for reasons of self defence, due to greater concerns for the personal safety of certain individuals resulting from historical problems political tension and violence, provided that the prospective owner can reasonably prove that they have a requirement for the weapon, and can exhibit themselves as necessarilyresponsible individuals. Certain firearms are also still legal in the United Kingdom as a whole, for purposes related to farming and hunting, although not for reasons of self-defence. Antique weapons or weapons of historical significance are also legal, although if they make use of currently available ammunition they must be held in a sufficiently secure location.
Despite Quackers bizarre protests to the contrary, the tightening of gun laws have been a traditionally non-partisan affair, and has been a continual process since the 16th century. Aisde from anything else, we simply don't have a cultural predisposition towards handgun ownership- the 1997 "ban" only effected 57,000 people, which was about 0.1% of the British population.
Indeed, they were traditionally favoured by Conservatives such as young Quacker-me-lad, as they made if harder for various poor people, Catholics and other such undesirables to get their hands on them, and so challenge their precious state monopoly on violence. This isn't some new, Orwellian plot on the part of New Labour, it's very old news.

[/off-topic]

 

[Ansar]

It's much better than Colombia, it isn't fighting a civil war, and you don't need to be afraid that each day your life could end. (unless you are very cautious with the streets...)

Colombia is not in anarchy. You make it sound as if it was like being in the Sudan.

Please don't talk about it because you're not there and/or in contact with people there.

 

[TheLastOne36]

Colombia is not in anarchy. You make it sound as if it was like being in the Sudan.

Please don't talk about it because you're not there and/or in contact with people there.

Actually I was in Bogota 2 weeks ago. Had to go shopping for Paragliding stuff, since they don't operate in Venezuela.

I'm not comparing it to Africa.

 

[Quackers]

Worth noting, at the point, that of the two major acts restricting firearms in the last few decades, one was passed by Thatcher's government in response to the Hungerford Massacre, outlawing the possession of certain shotguns and rifles. Blair's later act, in response to massive public outcry after the Dunblane Massacre, merely outlawed most remaining forms of semi-automic, rifle and shotgun. It is still legal to own certain firearms in Northern Ireland for reasons of self defence, due to greater concerns for the personal safety of certain individuals resulting from historical problems political tension and violence, provided that the prospective owner can reasonably prove that they have a requirement for the weapon, and can exhibit themselves as necessarilyresponsible individuals. Certain firearms are also still legal in the United Kingdom as a whole, for purposes related to farming and hunting, although not for reasons of self-defence. Antique weapons or weapons of historical significance are also legal, although if they make use of currently available ammunition they must be held in a sufficiently secure location.
Despite Quackers bizarre protests to the contrary, the tightening of gun laws have been a traditionally non-partisan affair, and has been a continual process since the 16th century. Aisde from anything else, we simply don't have a cultural predisposition towards handgun ownership- the 1997 "ban" only effected 57,000 people, which was about 0.1% of the British population.
Indeed, they were traditionally favoured by Conservatives such as young Quacker-me-lad, as they made if harder for various poor people, Catholics and other such undesirables to get their hands on them, and so challenge their precious state monopoly on violence. This isn't some new, Orwellian plot on the part of New Labour, it's very old news.

[/off-topic]

I don't have much love for many of our governments since the end of the second world war I can assure you, they have systematically annexed the rights of freeman to defend themselves and there property. Now we have to depend on new-labour social workers masquerading as police officers to protect us. An armed citizenry is a pre-requisite for a free-society. Considering that we do not have a written down constituition guaranting freedom or democracy or the long ignored English Bill of Rights 1689 AND the recent civil contigencies act which gives the Government terrifying powers in situations it deems as an emergancy, these moves should be viewed with massive suspicion.The Nazi's couldn't of done what they did without disarming the jews and the rest of the country and that accounts for other tyrannical regimes.

If I remember correctly you have the right to a certain length shotgun provided you are vetted by a Doctor, fill in endless forms at the local police station and ensure it is in a safe, bolted to a wall and locked. And than if you fail any parts of your interview such as conceding it is for self-defence, the only notable reason for an individual owning a firearm - your stripped of your right to own a gun because the government knows, of couse, better than you.

We did have a certain culture toward firearms in the UK. Many stories from roaming bands of men in the New Forest makes Texas seem effeminate. It is only in the last century or so this cherished right, because it was - has been removed from our collective memory by the elite.

Tell me are you some frustrated Scottish Catholic living on the Celtic fringes who greatly resents the English and protestantism in general I get this impression everytime you post.

 

[El_Machinae]

For instance recently the 10 hospitals with the worst death rates in England were given "Excellant" or "Good" by the government.

This isn't a reasonable objection. No matter how good hospitals are, there will always be '10 hospitals with the worst death rates'. I can find '10 hospitals with the worst death rates' in Canada, in the US, or in Nigeria. If you have more than 10 hospitals, you'll have 10 that are the worst in a specific statistic.

Now, there might be another reason to say that they're not 'good' or 'excellent', but this isn't one of them.

 

[Quackers]

This isn't a reasonable objection. No matter how good hospitals are, there will always be '10 hospitals with the worst death rates'. I can find '10 hospitals with the worst death rates' in Canada, in the US, or in Nigeria. If you have more than 10 hospitals, you'll have 10 that are the worst in a specific statistic.

Now, there might be another reason to say that they're not 'good' or 'excellent', but this isn't one of them.

But they're rated Excellant or Good that is the point. I think that hospitals should have roughly similiar death rates otherwise it shows that some hospitals are underperforming than others. But the main point is that it was the hospitals self-regulating themselves, so what do you expect? To rate themselves as poor?

 

[Elta]

Lower than Oman, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia is what you should be worried about. And Costa Rica and Dominica (I don't even know where this is, are they talking about the Dominican Republic the neighbor of Hati because if so srsly WTH)

Forget HDI, Colombia is in the middle of a civil war and riddle with drug cartels and drug lords and cocaine and somehow they manage to beat us.

Colombia is not really in a Civil war and is not that bad. It is progressing more (in nearly every HDI department) much faster than Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru.

It's better than the other countries around it (Save for Brazil)

The drug cartels have learned to pay off politicians instead of trying to fight the army for the most part recently too.

 

[Merkinball]

I find it extremely amusing that people actually believe that Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Cuba, and many other nations, have a comprehensively BETTER health system than the US. Objectivity be damned!

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

The article says what I've been thinking. If you have a well organized and run ER, patients will move quickly. ERs are supposed to admit patients by priority of illness, based on a triage nurse's assessment. The patients are supposed to be segregated according to their level of illness and seen in that priority. The accepted standard is 4 levels: critical, for-admit, treat-and-release, and fast track. I can tell you from what I've observed in nearly all ERs that this system is poorly implemented, or not implemented at all. The triage nurses often make poor decisions about level of illness. Or there is no functional division of priority.

There doesn't seem much incentive to fix the problem. The ER is not the leading money-maker of the hospital, so only a forward thinking board of trustees would realize that improving ER traffic improves reimbursement. The ER is also in a unique abusing position. ER doctors know that they don't have to actually do much for the patients, as they will be made some other doctor's problem inevitably-- either the admitting physician, or their primary care outpatient physician. So they tend to be slow and lumbering, taking hours to do any task that anyone else could do in minutes. Matters aren't helped by the knowledge that no matter how fast they work, there will always be more patients coming. So unless there is incentive for them, as in this private company, ER docs will always be ineffective.

At my own hospital, the ER is the pinnacle of mediocrity. There is no functional triage, as all patients go to the same ER and are seen on a first-come-first-serve basis, regardless of their illness. I can tell this because I've been called to see patients even in the "holding area", where patients are unmonitored. The doctors seem to be third-rate, taking hours to figure out and treat simple problems. I can tell this by the long speech I'm given about a patient, by the ER doctor, in which nothing is actually said. Many of the patients aren't even seen by a doctor. They are seen by a physician assistant (PA) whose assessment is then underwritten by a doctor. I have seen little better in most other ERs.

 

[Elta]

I find it extremely amusing that people actually believe that Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Cuba, and many other nations, have a comprehensively BETTER health system than the US. Objectivity be damned!

Yeah, I dunno Brother - the WHO tends to be the authority on global H.


You can't just harr harr harr dem ninjas r po.


Da facts is facts.