You are telling me about something completely different than you originally asked, I know how private works, all I'm saying is a private emergency department is a cost to everyone, regardless if you have private or not.
I can go to a private ED and pay $430 to save waiting in a public ED with a chicken bone in my throat, it will cost a top cover private patient exactly the same.
What happens after that is where it changes, the availability to get stuff fixed is nearly immediate when private where public, you join the slow queue.
What I meant to say is that private cover isn't just simply effective for better hospital beds, I already know whether you go to a private ED or private hospital isn't going to be cheap either way. Most of the covers I've seen for private hospitals you need to pay some type of excess to access the policy. I don't know where people are getting that the Ambos won't take you to a private hospital because it's circumstantial on the day. I was involved in a workplace accident 20 years ago and the Ambos took me to a private hospital knowing that it was a work cover claim and the hospital in this case was further away from the public. My experience is that ambos tend to take you into a public system because they are more effective in dealing with the trauma side of things and most people don't have private cover. I'm sure with all the backed-up patients the public system has, if you're not in a critical condition they would be happy to take you to a private hospital if they're not wasting time.
In my case knowing what I know now, I would have gotten someone to drive me in or driven in myself to anywhere but a public hospital. It took more than 15 minutes for a family member to deal with the 000 call, more than 3/4 of an hr for the Ambo's to arrive then they fucked around with the triage service. I could have driven to a local private hospital or ED within 15 minutes, and after I waited for 4hrs at the hospital, they told me there was roughly a 7hr waiting list before me and the majority of people they had called up before me in the queue had gone home in any case.
On top of all this BS, when I asked if I could try a local GP to see if they could do anything rather than waiting 7hrs there, they literally said it wasn't urgent but if the bone dislodged I could die on the spot, and then they're telling me to go drink some fizzy drink as it will help dislodge the bone. As if I'm going to walk around a hospital with a partially blocked airway and look for a fizzy drink dispenser after they tell me if it dislodges it could end my life.
It's no wonder all these anti-govt groups are on the rise in Australia.
Today’s correspondent was: … recently been made aware of the provision contained in the Ambulance Service Regulation 2015 (Qld) r 3. For reference, in other states, it can be common practice to att…
australianemergencylaw.com
) If a person is involved in an accident or emergency and is transported by ambulance, the person may be taken to—
(a) the nearest public hospital; or
(b) another public hospital that a health service chief executive of a Hospital and Health Service under the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 has decided is appropriate for the treatment of the person; or
(c) if transport to a hospital mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) is not practicable—a private hospital; or
(d) if arrangements have been made with a doctor—the doctor’s surgery; or
(e) at the request of the person, or the person’s parent or guardian—
(i) the accident and emergency department of a local private hospital; or
(ii) if a local doctor’s surgery or office has the facilities to receive and treat the person—the surgery or office.
(2) If a person in need of ambulance transport has been seen by a doctor, the person may be taken to a place nominated by the doctor.
(3) Ambulance transport of a person from a hospital or doctor’s surgery to another place of medical care or a private residence may be provided only on the written request of a doctor.
(4) A doctor must not make a nomination under subsection (2), or a request under subsection (3), unless the doctor is satisfied the person can not safely, or reasonably, travel by an alternative form of transport.
(5) Despite subsections (1) and (2), an ambulance officer may transport a person to any place where medical treatment is provided if the officer believes the person needs urgent medical treatment.
