I’m from Australia and believe me there are plenty of problems with our health care for both doctors and patients.
My dd needed urgent diagnostic test (not saying as don’t want to reveal too much on the internet) and our referral was knocked back repeatedly. We were unable to get bulk billed care for our child. We ended up having to go private even though we really can’t afford it. The waiting list for one simple test for diagnosis of a potentially serious health issue (not treatment, not surgery) was anywhere between 1 and 2 years at the public children’s hospital.
Waiting lists for treatment or surgery can be years. Going to the emergency department you could be waiting hours even over 24 hours sitting on a plastic seat waiting to be triaged. And it doesn’t seem to matter that it’s a child. I saw a very sick child vomiting and crying and still not getting treatment or a bed.
It also depends on where you live in Australia. Not every city has as many options as other cities. Then there is regional parts of Australia that have a lack of care. Some towns don’t even have any maternity care or hospitals equipped for giving birth at all.
We pay the Medicare levy in our tax to fund universal health care. But so many people are getting less care depending on where they live. They are paying the same Medicare levy in their tax though.
Funding for health care has been cut time and time again. There are less bulk billing doctors available now. Hospitals are understaffed, not enough beds etc.
Parking at hospitals is insanely expensive.
I’ve personally had excellent care and on the other spectrum very poor level of care.
If you are on the receiving end of medical negligence it is very hard to successfully hold them responsible.
Health insurance is expensive, confusing and doesn’t cover everything.
In saying all this, I was under the impression that the Uk’s NHS was better than Australia until I discovered Mumsnet.