Privilege, Not A Right

There are plenty of things in this great country that we take for granted. May it be the clean air we breathe, water we drink or our access to quality food.

There are also many institutions that we take for granted. They are being abused (I’d consider the use of a stronger word like molested), and kicked whilst down. In particular there is our health system, schools, emergency services and welfare. Granted these institutions are rampant with inefficient bureaucratic administrations but perhaps if they were paid a tad more respect they might be able to provide a better service.

The community at large should feel privileged to live in a country that provides these services and there presence is not a ‘right’ at all.

Out health care is very advanced in comparison to most countries in the world. We have some of the best doctors working right here. They work hard to diagnose sick people and rescue them from potentially life threatening situations. Yet unreasonable demands are placed on them. People want to be seen by one as soon as they step foot into a hospital. Not going to happen. Imagine if they only had to deal with genuinely sick people.

Our schools are affordable and accessible. Last time I checked the only cost that a parent must pay for a child in a state school was slightly over $100 a year, and that is voluntary. This is a joke, as people want value in their child’s education yet is unwilling to pay anything for it. One news story in Queensland had a parent stating that her son had a right to a ‘free’ education. Rubbish!! Your son is PRIVILEGED to have access to such affordable education. Somehow there are people who can’t pay the voluntary contribution. Can’t or won’t? For a few dollars a week per child I would be thanking God that it is only that much.

There are multiple emergency services ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Yet services are being clogged up by non-emergency cases. Ambulances are being sent to minor ailments where people would be better served to visit their local doctor. Police are sent to small fracas because people are just too angry and frustrated over the latest media induced panic. Fire Fighters are sent to motor vehicle accidents to mop up leaking fuels, but if people were more patient on the roads then most accidents would be avoidable.

Our welfare system is very generous. Some would say too generous. Working folk are left to wonder why we bother when it seems so easy to get some form of government benefit. Unfortunately there’s not a government ‘courageous’ enough to change the system and make it harder to obtain. This could possibly result in a loss at the next election. But since when did people know what was best for the country.

So people, look after these otherwise they might not be there when you need them the most.

Education En Masse

Where there’s a will there’s a way. People need to learn how to correctly utilise health services. If only this blog had mass appeal.

Generally speaking we all have a “want it now” attitude. As in I’m sick now and want it fixed now. Anyone who has had the flu, for example, will know you can be sick for a full week, perhaps more. There is rarely such a thing as an immediate fix.

Some learn the hard way by having to wait in a boring, drafty, uncomfortable hospital waiting room for 5 hours or more before getting a bed, or told to go home and rest.

People want to see a doctor straight away and think that coming in by ambulance will achieve that. Truth is that a cardiac chest pain by own transport will always beat the vomiting on an ambulance stretcher.

One man recently thought that he would get immediate treatment and attention from a doctor when he arrived via ambulance. When ushered to the waiting room, with his minor bout of vomiting, he complained to the clerk then the nursing manager. He got his marching orders by security for being abusive to staff.

Unless you are in a really bad way (i.e. life threatening) then you will have to wait for a doctor. The doctor/patient ratio is nowhere near 1:1.

Most of the time for those with minor ailments it would be quicker and better for them to take some rest and see their GP in the morning. But for some reason people are too quick to get worked up over these minor ailments and then the act of getting worked up becomes the ailment.

If people just took a reality check and considered their condition against all the other people in hospital then perhaps our health system would work a bit better. Or perhaps our health is set up perfectly for the results it is getting.