Was there ever a time where medicine was about taking care of the patients or am I looking at things through rose coloured glasses? Or has medicine always been about the money and the reputation that comes from having the title Dr in front of your name? I seem to remember doctors that cared, and in fact have one that sticks in my mind from just two months ago, but for the most part all I seem to recall is the medical system trying to get patients through as fast as they can and reaping the monetary rewards that come from it.

The thing that has brought this particular rant up is my experiences with doctors over the past six months. I’ve had a fairly bad year health wise and as such have needed a couple of procedures done. First I had my tonsils removed and then I had…well, another procedure that probably is best not being mentioned here. So let’s start with the first one chronologically, shall we?

First it took me over a month to actually see the specialist, despite my GP calling to inform him how sick I was. I should have known that something would be wrong the first time I met the specialist that would be taking care of my operation. The only appointment time was in the middle of the day so I needed to take a long lunch from work so that I could attend the appointment and then head back to my place of business to finish out the day. However when I got there (five minutes late) I found that the doctor would in fact be another half an hour before he was ready to see me. And while complaining about this in the waiting room I found that another woman had in fact been given an appointment with the same doctor…at the same time! Now I know that doctors are expected to work miracles every day however I have yet to meet one that could be in two places at once.

Then we come to the operation. It took three months before he could schedule me in, despite how ill I was. I see the anaesthetist for about a minute before my operation and do not see the doctor at all. I spend more time in recovery than I needed to because rather than assessing me as a patient in my own right they adhered to the standardized rules that they had for everyone in there and refused to acknowledge that the fact that I was walking and talking, reading and requesting the bathroom did in fact mean that I had regained my faculties and would not die if they removed me from recovery. During this period I also suffered an asthma attack. Rather than retrieving my spray they informed me that I did not in fact need it, it was a reaction from having my tonsils removed and I would be fine. It took me practically going blue before they would acknowledge that I did in fact need help breathing and retrieved me an asthma spray.

After cutting my medication, despite the fact that I was in a great deal of pain, and sending me home without anyone actually having a serious look at me, I spent the next week in a large amount of pain. It turned out that I had developed a fairly severe inner ear infection that required weeks of treatment. Something that would have been needed if someone had taken one look at my ear before they discharged me rather than telling me “it’s normal with tonsil removal, you’ll be fine.”

The second procudure was done about two months ago. This experience was slightly better. My doctor gave me a referral to a specialist. However they could not see me for over a month and considering the nature of the problem that was totally unacceptable. So he found another doctor that would see me later that week. This doctor was much like one of my GPs (the one who referred me to the tonsil specialist, not the one sending me to this specialist) – older, abrupt, positive of what course of action to take before he would even allow me to finish telling him what was wrong.

However he also managed to book me in for the procedure a mere week after my first appointment. Which led me to my experience with one of the best doctors I have ever met – the anaesthetist taking care of me during this procedure. One – he bul billed medicare and my health fund for the entire amount so I saw no out of pocket. Two – he took me aside before the operation to discuss not only what his part in it was but what would happen during the entire procedure, what I could expect afterwards and what I needed to look out for. Three – he spent about ten minutes discussing random things with me, reassuring me and making me feel as though I was the only patient that he had and his entire time there was decicated to making sure that I was OK. Four – he continued to do so in the theatre when he saw that I was nervous and unsure of what was happening, including talking me through everything he was doing as he did it so that nothing would surprise me.

Which brings me to this experience. The specialist that I saw before the procedure did not inform me that he was doing away for more than a month. So when I called, needing to see him urgently because I was having the symptoms again and far more severe, I was informed that it would be mid-November before I could see him. Now considering the very real possibility of severe blood loss from what is happening it possibly wasn’t the best idea to wait that long. So I was referred to the doctor taking care of his patients while I was away.

I called and explained the situation to the secretary. She said she would organise something straight away. However when she started discussing it with the doctor he did everything he could to fob me off, including trying to send me to a GP and the emergency room, neither of which would be able to solve my problem at the time. And while he finally agreed to make an appointment with me this week, he’s also sending me a few different places beforehand in the hopes that will magically reveal the problem and make him fairly useless in the equation. Leaving me with a feeling that I’m really not wanted and my problem is either too serious or not serious at all, neither of which I know is the case.

So what is the point of being a doctor if you are not going to help people? If you are a specialist and someone comes to you with a problem in your area of expertise why would you send them away when you clearly have appointments available, as evidenced by your secretary mentioning as such?

Honestly, if I could not get sick I would, but this essential members of society should realise that they’re not gods to pick and chose who they cure. Their oath is to help all, not the ones who are easy to fix and will make them the most money.