@mirch: true. UC's are not open afterhours. Large ER's have a Fast track area within the main ER that is meant to take over the work of UC's after hours .... But not all ER's have Fast track and many that do close them down at midnight. The Main ER is then it. I have heard of 24 hours UC's as well ... but those are few and far in between.
@TLK: You are right. There is tremendous focus these days on improving the flow and efficiency of ER's. physicians are increasingly under pressure to work faster, see larger numbers of patients faster. Many hospitals are now beginning to offer financial incentives to help motivate that move. Various IT solutions are being looked at to register/process the incoming pts faster. heck there is even reinterpretation of EMTALA. What I don't see however is a focus on increased staffing. Overall, these concepts/solutions are not bad .... but I am a bit wary of them ... efficiency comes at a cost .... with greater focus/pressure on healthcare workers to do it fast ... I fear we will see increasing numbers of medical mistakes, misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses ....
Small community hosp/private for-profit hosp have faster track system.
City hosp have too many sick people or trauma patients who have no insurance. These patinets have no regular doctors so they flood the ER. Hence, service gets affected.
Urgent care places can be 24 hours.
Large billboard now advertise under 30 min wait time.
its the same in denmark… not as bad as canada.. but still..
i miss the healthcare in arabia.. especially now that i have a baby… now THAT is healthcare where every ooh and aah counts and means something to a dr … here… u could be bleeding your body empty and would still have to wait for more than an hour just to have someone notice you are there.
privatize it all i say… i dont see the reason to paying 60% taxes (yes my husband pays that much), and get crap in return. same thing with whatever services govt is providing.. cutbacks in all.
The two times I was ever in hospital was in emergency. In the first case, I went to an urgent care clinic first and the doctor thought I needed immediate attention in the ER even though I disagreed...lol. I was seen within the first 30 minutes of waiting.
Second time, again at someone else's urging, I went to the ER and admitted in under 15 minutes. In that case I dont know what I would have done had I not gone..... In this case I kind of blame the doctors for being very incompetent...I'm still angry abt that experience.
Bbq i can understand from patient’s point of view as how it could be frustrating. I am guessing, Ireland has free medical like Canada here?. If it is then, Government funding (to health sector) could be the cause of high wait time. I am saddened to hear that your mother and your friend has to wait this long. Not sure about Ireland, But here in Canada we usually have nurses who would deal with first aid issues. Write a letter to Health Ministry or your local MP or MLA.
