Girl Trouble and the Irish Health System
So I have a lump in my breast and some uh... leakage. I talked to my GP who referred me for an ultrasound. I go to the local hospital with the slip and well... they don't do them anymore. So I ask what to do. Try Mullingar... TRY them???
I drive out to Mullingar to be told it's at least a four to six week wait. I tell her there is blood coming out of my breast. I tell her that if this is cancer I could be dead in six weeks. She tells me I can be a private patient and it could be as little as three weeks. Fuck. So there you go. Three weeks before I can find out if I'm dying. I love Ireland. I really do.
No I don't. The healthcare system here is beyond fucked. When I lived in the states, there was no public healthcare system, but I paid $55 a month for full coverage for my entire family. I had to pay $20 to visit the GP and pay a little towards prescriptions, but that was it. I even had a major operation and a birth covered. No problem. Best $55 I ever spent.
People talk about reform here and what not, but I say fuck it. Privatise it all. Then means test who can get free healthcare. Sounds harsh, but right now I'm pissed. I could have fucking cancer, but I won't even get a scan for three weeks and then it will probably be another week or two before someone bothers to look at the bloody thing.
If I were back in the states I would have gone to my GP. An hour or two later I would have been at the hospital having the scan. The next day I would have results and treatment decisions would be made from there. For $55 a month. Oh yeah... and the hospital would be clean and the staff speak English. Imagine that.
Sorry... I'm just mad and upset and angry and scared shitless. If it were just a lump I wouldn't be concerned at my age, but blood... blood is bad. Blood is almost always bad news... bad news that I have to wait three weeks for. Fuck.
That is a total disgrace. I'm sitting here getting more angry and pissed off by the minute. Three weeks is the BEST they can do. Fuck that. Ring every bloody hospital in the country with an ultrasound, find out who can do it the soonest. You'll have gone mental with worry in 3 weeks.
Its no way to treat anyone.
What a fucking mess.
Thinking of ya.
Posted by: ManicMammy | October 24, 2007 at 02:29 PM
Have you tried Barrington's Clinic in Limerick? Oustanding staff and prompt service. If you are willing to pay. It's expensive but dear jesus for something like what you are experiencing there isn't a value. Throw the cash at them and get yourself around that scan contraption!!!!
Posted by: Eileen | October 25, 2007 at 03:05 PM
Read your post the other night - it's astounding how appalling some services are in this country. Will keep you in my thoughts and my fingers crossed :)
Posted by: Curly K | November 07, 2007 at 10:45 PM
fLY TO uk GET A PRIVATE TREATMENT.Dont play with time and ur life.
Or have a holiday in fareast and have the check up done. There was a news in the paper about medical tourism...
Posted by: Joe | November 11, 2007 at 10:28 PM
Yes, the Irish Health system is in desperate need of proper funding and management. People need also to be aware of their rights as patients. We can all make a little difference by going to the following site and signing the petition:
http://www.activecitizenship.net/content/view/56/78/
It’s at least a start!
Posted by: B. Bultman | June 07, 2008 at 05:42 PM
Yes, the Irish Health system is in desperate need of proper funding and management. People need also to be aware of their rights as patients. We can all make a little difference by going to the following site and signing the petition:
http://www.activecitizenship.net/content/view/56/78/
It’s at least a start!
Posted by: B. Bultman | June 07, 2008 at 05:42 PM