Do people stand in lines for hours for medical care in your country?
 

How awful to live in a country where thousands of citizens who don't have access to dental care are forced to spend the night waiting in line in sub-freezing temperatures so volunteer doctors and dentists can help. Normally the US would send aid to help places like that, but it was Portland, Oregon last night, and sending aid would be considered socialist medicine.

Thousands line up for free dental work at Convention Center | kgw.com | Portland News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | Health News

PORTLAND, Ore. -- More than 1,200 dental health care professionals were offering free dental care at the Oregon Convention Center this week.
Patients were invited to come in starting at 5:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday and many started waiting in the chilly temps starting Sunday night.
The first Mission of Mercy on the West Coast and Oregon Dental Association partenered with community and businesses to provide the exams, X-rays, and complete surgical care.
On Monday alone, volunteers helped 761 people.

Yes........

Yes, for some inexcusable reason ($$$) insurance companies and corporations still consider dentistry to be a non-essential medical expense and fail to provide insurance benefits, or provide only the barest minimum coverage. This despite the proof that dental issues can quickly turn into to cardiac, nutritional, and septic issues that can be life threatening.

And yet there are other less critical medical issues that they don't hestitate to help with the cost to the patient.

That aside, there is a serious lack of basic dental providers that those with or without insurance can access.

To stay in line for hours at the dentist no, but first you have to go to a family care medic, which will give you a sending to the dentist, and here you loose you're hours...a lot of hours.

Its free, but the only treatment you'll be receiving is getting out all your teeth, regardless of the measure in which they are deteriorated/treatable.

Almost the same in any other medical domain, first a line up at the family care medic, where you spend a lot of time, then some basic, very basic free treatment at the specialized medic. Even with the free service, a small bribe is a must... I really hate the medical system here.

Private insurance is very rare in my country, all medical care is based on the social health system and the bribe you give to the medics, nurses, etc.
I am lucky I can afford to pay one, so in case something happens I am able to go to a private hospital (that's a must if you wanna live).

Amazing, simply amazing. I'm watching a video where people are standing huge lines to get free dental treatment... in a country with the largest economy in the world. I cannot help but laugh, because it reminds of a video I saw a while ago.

So this is just a one-time special occasion in Portland?

I live in Frog land so; no! I think there'd be an uprising in France if had to stand in lines for hours for any kind of medical care!

In Belgium, it depends of why are we going to...

If it's for to simply make an examination/radio in hospital, it may take from 10 min to 2 hours...

For the huge emergencies, not more than 5 min

For small emergencies, it takes around 20 min to make firsts tests, then you have to wait atleast the same time...

For our doctor and/or dentist, around 20 min

But the worst thing in Belgium...
Ambulance/Fire departement SHOULD NOT DRIVE FASTER THAN... speed limits...
If a house is burning and with 2-3 peoples inconscious... The fire trucks and ambulance must come too late (when the house is already destroyed and when the peoples are in coma) because they have to drive at 50 km/h in villages/towns...
If they exceed speed, they needs to pay fines --"
The most stupid thing for these departments...

what about accident and emergency? we often have to wait ages for that when they are busy.


We are lucky with our local doctors surgery-- if we phone early in the morning- often we can get an appointment for that day.

Not sure what will happen with cameron and Cleggs interference though-- expecting the doctors to take on the admin and finances etc etc.

I am extremely grateful to our NHS who are under a lot of stress and demands

also I see there have been protests about raising the age of retirement to 62.


How lucky are the French. Ours are likely to make us work till our mid seventies if the govt. have their way. Men usually retire at 65-- but that wil be pushed foreward to work longer

I think it is a yearly thing, but it was special because it was unusually cold this particular night, and that people were waiting more than 12 hours in advance.

There are also free medical check-ups that happen at a local church once every two months or so. This happens thanks to the church and volunteer medical staff.

It depends really... The longest I've had to wait at A&E in France was about 20 mins. There were a lot of people as well! England, the longest I've waited was about 3 hours when I broke my leg. This was easily 6 or 7 years ago, so I'm sure things have changed.

Yes, the NHS is a wonderful system. It's a million times better than a lot of other countries. But they still do lack some organisation, and better doctors. Someone I know spent 5 years going to GP and dermatologists for a skin problem. They were given god knows how many creams and drugs. This person came to France for a consultation and they found out that this person was allergic to leather. This isn't a one off thing either. I've got dozens of stories like this. So now, for me, whenever I have to see a Dr for a recurring problem in England, I always have a second consultation in France, lol.



As for the retirement... Yeah, the French are lucky, but I think they abuse this protesting thing! They'll protest for anything, and once a year, they have "General Strikes". It's become a bit of a tradition, which is silly in my opinion!

What's so surprising? >> Sicko (2007) - IMDb

And no, people don't stand in lines for medical care in my country. Every country should provide public medical insurance for all legal citizens. You Americans keep giving your votes to the wrong people and next thing you know you'll be dying and not one hospital will take you in. And you know what? You had it coming.

i hate the british health care system i remember recently on the news they mentioned how a elderly women who had her bed shifted to the toilet because they had no space in the wards,
besides this if your thinkin of being seen to on a weekend u can forget it, all the idiots who come in smashed up becoz of drinking too much will take the space of someone say whose had a heart attack or a stroke and needs immediate attention, things like this have happened alot, not to mention the arrogant staff and MRSA.

Brazil is the winner talking about wait for medical care, horrible public service. It's usual see on TV people complaining about public medical service here, but lately the services appear to be improving.

So will the health care reform do anything about this or will Americans be getting their check-ups in churches forever?

No system is perfect. There'll always be the one incedent like the one you mentioned of a woman who's bed was shifted into the toilets - I'm not saying its right, just that one bad incedent doesn't mean the entire system is faulty. For example, surgery can save millions of lives but there will always be a handful of doctors who make mistakes, or patients who die on the table, but it doesn't mean just because one doctor is incompetent that all doctors are. The NHS isn't perfect, and yes some people get a raw deal, but it helps so many people that personally I think it's a good idea.

Also I think your comment on the 'idiots' getting priority over those who had 'heart attacks' or 'strokes' is perhaps wrong. In A&E they always treat people according to priority, so the idiot who has broke his leg will always get treated after the guy bleeding to death on the floor, which is as it should be. If some 'drunk' is getting taking the space of 'someone who needs it' I'll be willing to bet there's a damned good reason, and that there's something that makes him a priority case that just perhaps isn't obvious to a non-medical person.

Personally I think the British healthcare system is excellent.

Here we have an option for private or free healthcare, and although free healthcare often has longer waiting lists it isn't inferior at all. The doctors who treat for free are often the exact same doctors who work in the private sector, and the NHS offers seriously sick or ill people a chance to be cured or helped who might not otherwise afford it. How many other countries treat the sick for free? You can make an emergency appointment with a doctor and be seen the same day, you can have a serious operation and not pay a penny, and yes it had flaws - not all medicines are avaliable, treatment can take longer - but ultimately it does more good than it does bad.

Edit: If the staff are arrogant it's due to long hours, lack of good pay, and the fact hardly anyone respect them - whether they work as a surgeon, or as a consultant, or even as the coroner - and you'll be suprised how much crap people give the nurses especially. The MRSA is a problem, but at least they're working to prevent it, such as hand sanitizers in every ward and public space and restricting visiting hours.

mmmmmm-- well I think we are lucky in this country-- considering the enormous demand for its services-- they do the best they can in difficult situations. We have many immigrants working in the hospitals--.

I have always felt we are lucky compared to many other countries. Maybe too many of us take it all for granted.


I actually haven't come across arrogant staff--- usually they are overworked and definitely underpaid.
be thankful you don't have to pay enormous bills-- we pay through our taxes.

I agree about friday and saturday nights with all the binge drinkers causing chaos and depriving other genuine patients of time and care.

The hospital staff have to deal with what comes into the hospital-- they can't pick and choose.


Since so many Care Homes closed-- that puts more strain on the NHS for beds-- elderly people taking up the beds when there is nowhere else to send them.


Maybe a lot depends in which part of the country one lives.

When I had my first baby in Scotland-- she died- the hospital was AIRTHRY CASTLE- Where Stirling University now stands

and I was convinced it was neglect or ignorance on the part of the staff. My second child was born in Stirling royal Infirmary-- thank goodness-- she did survive. But all staff in hospitals are human, a lot depends on their equipment and enough staff. I heard that there are not enough mid- wives nowadays.

As complicated as the health care reform bill that passed is, it doesn't have much in the way of teeth. It actually should be called a health insurance reform bill, and it basically states that for-profit insurance companies cannot reject a potential client or drop a client because of a pre-existing condition. It is not single-payer healthcare, which is what America needs and what every other first world nation has.

I thought that's what the whole new health care fuss was all about - that America will have the same health care as other nations.

I did not understand the riots against Health reforms.

Single-payer was off the table almost from the start. The private insurance industry in America is very rich and very powerful. Their industry would be in ram-shackles if this were to pass.

Yes they do. If you break a leg (or in my brother's case - a collar bone) it's not unusual to wait up to 5-7 hours to get treated. They simply refer you to the waiting room. Many parents bring a packed lunch or snacks when they go to the hospital, because it takes so long.. My mom packed a lunch for my brother when he (at 7-8 years old) broke his collar bone on a field trip with his school. They waited for 5½ hours to get treated.

i dont know, i dont think thats an excuse for rotten behaviour i remember goin to the hospital coz my dad was diagnosed with cancer and he was having an operation to remove it, but they just stiched him back up without being able to - we didnt know anything at this point other then the operation was not succesful - so he was lying in the ward unconcious and i asked the nurse in charge to explain why and what had happened becoz we were crazy with worry - and she said to me 'let me take my break and ill be back in 20 mins'! lol i wanted to put her in a hospital bed! hed been in surgery for 13 hours and me and my elderly mother were stood in the ward waiting for him, worried beyond belief because we were told it was a very risky operation and she didnt feel the need to explain it she just left for her break! - and thats not a one off! we had to wait 1 whole day thats 24 hours b4 my friends mother could get her stroke, seen to by anyone! because guess what theres not enuff doctors on the weekend so GOD forbid you shud fall ill on the weekend! you might have had good experiences but i can say anything but, i think alot of stuff like this happens its just that no one really reports or mentions it coz the duty of care for a doctor is very low in the courts.

even now its coming out on the news about all these hidden cases of deaths due to negligence in certain hospitals - "Nineteen hospital trusts are today exposed as having alarmingly high death rates in a major report that also reveals how hundreds of people are dying needlessly because of substandard NHS care" - HERES THE LINK TO THIS ARTICLE - Exposed: the hospitals whose high death rates are failing the NHS | Society | The Observer

i remember about 10 years ago, how fantastic our hospitals and staff used to be, granted nurses dont get paid as much as they shud (cant say the same for doc's coz my cosins one and he gets paid thousands a week) but thats NO EXCUSE for bad behaviour if u dont like the job work somewhere else, there are other nurses who are more then happy to help and be polite and considerate, granted those ppl are few and far between now - but others shudnt treat patients like cattle.

ok i totally posted in the wrong thread !!

why do you say that. I am very sorry to hear what happened with your dad.

I can't give a reason of course. I hope your dad is alright now.


Also its worrying re strokes. we are told that instant treatment is necessary. I suspect it often is lack of staff and even equipment. or even beds.

There often can be so many patients that it must be so difficult to cope with them all as swiftly as they really need.

Nurses and doctors are humans just like us. If a nurse is overworked having to cover staff that are not there they must be under a lot of stress.

You would need to speak to nurses or doctors to maybe see it from their viewpoint.


when it is our loved one it is hard to deal with when we don't know what is going on.


from what I hear, since there have been changes for junior doctors-- who used to work terribly long hours-- they now work less hours-- which seems to mean that in emergencies there are not enough doctors to deal with everything.


Also maybe it depends what area you live in-- whether there is extra demand for hospital treatment in some areas. after all we have a lot of immigrants and their families.

when I take my animals to the vet I do get good attention-- but I also have to pay for that treatment. we tend to take so much for granted.

well here no one stands in lines since everything goes by appointment system.
but: dental care is free until you reach age of 18. after 18 you have to pay. well...before i turned 18 i visited dentist for the first time in my life (i have good teeth) and he did some minor fixing on government's expense however for anyone else it would have costed 200$. well here wages differ and actually dentist is considered to be very expensive.

Many dentists here are private and it can be difficult to find an NHS Dentist.

I am fortunate-- Never had aprivate dentist-- but pay for any treatment I have, but I believe it is less than I would have to pay privately. That can be very expensive.


In hospitals we can have out-patient appointments, and often do have to wait a long time-- depending what we are going to have done.

There seems to be changes now in that certain hospitals specialise in certain procedures and have all the necessary equipment for that. So one can have to travel some distance away for some specific treatments.

I believe that some hospitals do not have maternity units so young mums have to travel a long way-- which of course is not a good thing.


So many changes happening. But I believe there will be more walk-in clinics being built which could be very useful.


I am lucky where I live although there is a large population of elderly people who have retired to the seaside-- so that gives extra stress on the NHS and social services.

Those who are against it, don't want to have to pay into such a system. They have this mentality of, "Why should I pay for my neighbor's healthcare?" and they don't want to have to "wait". That type of attitude. I personally have no problem with that type of set up. I like the idea of paying into a system that I will, eventually use, and it's nice that I'll be helping someone else too.

I'd rather wait 5 hours for treatment (unless it's life threatening) instead of not going to the hospital at all because I can't afford it because I have no insurance, due to being rejected because of a "pre-existing condition". I'm really glad I'm in Japan right now. At least when I'm sick, I can go to the doctor and not debate on whether or not I should go if I'm not feeling well because of cost, like back home. Already had to file for bankruptcy one time back home because of healthcare issues. I'm glad I'm in a place right now where bankruptcy wouldn't even be an issue.

thats good to know, I am unsure about facilities for such as yourself.

Is Japan similar to UK with its national health service?

No doubt Nyrororin has already explained but I forget.

Myjapaneses friend here in UK-- student-- has had to use our services and not had to pay-- although she DOES pay taxes. she has a damaged wrist which was set about 18 months ago but it needs to be seen to again.

Because of worry about passing her exams here in UK she has not been back to the hospital--- but is thinking of getting it done when she returns to JAPAN although she will only be there for about ten days.

Although, most dental hygiene is the process of brushing and flossing every day, three times a day. My mother's a dental assistant, and in my opinion, if everyone just took better care of their teeth, except for straightening and other major issues like getting wisdom teeth pulled, there would be no need for dentists. Just a side thought.

Yes, American national health care is non-existent, and our medical insurance system is very corrupt, but Americans are not ignorant and we aren't going to stand for it much longer. I believe the main detrimental force against America's progression towards national health care is our warped dislike of "socialism," or rather "communist-socialism", forging communism and socialism synonyms. It's this kind of thinking that hurts our government in trying to discover new and better ways to create national health care.

However, it is not that "awful," yet anyway. There are plenty of free clinics in America, and even though people do have to wait in line, it's better than nothing. Health-Nutrition-Education, America's three major pillars of well-being are very unsteady right now, but I believe America will learn and develop (finally) good habits of eating right, taking care of our bodies, and learning what we need to maintain healthy lives. Then, hopefully people won't have to be sent to the hospital except for emergencies.

The scary thing is, the health insurance agencies know about this flaw, so they exploit Americans needing health care by jacking up prices and eliminating competition. I hear more and more commercials on TV discussing faulty drugs, and it's scary. What do we have our Food and Drug Association for, if not to take care of harmful drugs and foods before they reach the consumer market? It's crazy. And American food is most, if not all, processed and filled with corn syrup, corn starch, and chemicals no one can pronounce... So it's difficult to maintain healthy habits even if you try. America needs to crack down not only on health care but also on basic food and drugs, so our government protects us like they SHOULD be doing! -That's what most Americans believe.

definetly the case in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

last awful experience was a pregnant girl that was having spasms and bleeding. She waited 6 hours. Afterwards the baby was lost. The nurse said "may have been saved if they would have seen you sooner"...

Kinda cruel

sorry im replying late, my dad is better now thank GOD,
thanks alot for asking
but whilst we were at the hospital i remember the man across the bed from my father was shivering so severly from a fever that his bed was physically shaking and the nurse was literally standing infront of him and ignoring him, so the man on the bed next door (who had had an operation) stood up with his IV still attached and went and got an extra blanket - and me and the him both covered this poor man (btw the nurse was totally ignoring us this whole time), so we went and spoke to 3 different nurses outside of the ward before they gave him proper medical attention
seeing things like that really P'ss me off! no matter how tierd or busy u are, things like that shud never be ignored, they woudlnt do that to their own family members so why do it to someone elses?

It's funny how much people criticize things which they know so little about. I have visited a few dental offices in Japan and have been shocked by the poor quality of dentistry here. I've been to many places, but the quality of Japanese dentistry is not much betterr than you would expect to find in India or Central America. Sure, basic treatments are covered by the national healthcare program, but the resulting dental work is awful to look at.

I ended up finding an America dentist in Tokyo who does good work. Of course his treatments are not covered by national healthcare, and neither are his treatments cheap.

I wish people would stop blaming governments for not providing services which people should be able to provide for themselves. One of the reasons intelligent people study hard in school is so that they can earn enough money to pay for things like their own insurance or their own dental care. America has free primary education, and the best universities in the world, it is a country where it is almost painfully easy to succeed. Yet there are many who fall through the cracks. Some of these people are victims of bad luck, but most have only to blame themselves for the bad decisions they have made in their lives.

When I lived in America I made sure I had good insurance. When I chose an employer, I made sure that they offered medical and dental coverage. I qualified myself to work for such an employer by getting a good education and having a good work history and good credit.

When I suffered from hardships (and there were more than a few) I didn't blame anyone but myself. I understood that my problems were MY problems, and therefore my responsibility. Solving these problems and overcoming the hardships in my life made me smarter and stronger. In a society where the government protects everybody from such hardships, how would people learn responsibility? We would all turn out to be weak-minded and weak-spirited people who would never learn to take care of ourselves, like the French.

It is interesting, Sangetsu. In my old stomping grounds where I visit yearly there are (obviously) several dental clinics. From what I knew many had poor reputations, but "what are you going to do?"

Then in the last year or so a new dentist moved into town. His office, literally, looks like the deck of a spaceship. All bright and white. His clinic uses the newest in technology. Now all of my friends have broken off with their regular dentists and go to his office. I got to peek in, and he (and his colleagues) are using tech that I have never seen before, certainly not in America. Lasers instead of drills... pretty cool stuff.

I agree that people should take responsibility for their own actions, but like you said, sometimes we meet with bad luck and need a helping hand. Isn't that what the government is there for in the first place? If the government can't help those that need help, then what is it's use?

I understand libertarian ideals, but does it help you or hurt you if families are freezing in their cars as they have no place to go? Does it help you or hurt you if children are dropping out of school to pick vegetables in order to make money to scratch by? Is it better or worse for you if houses on your block are going into foreclosure?

The America of 50 and 60 years ago was truly a place of "neighborhoods". That is gone now, and is why we see these kinds of attitudes, where people don't want to be bothered with even their next door neighbor. "I'll watch your house if you watch mine" is becoming an attitude of the past. I like that isn't as true in many parts of Japan and rural America. But it is sad it is a growing trend.