One of my favorite fellow health policy wonks, Russell Hutchinson, has a disturbing story from his native New Zealand. As I understand it, the NZ health care system is a combination of government and private enterprise. Many (most?) folks are part of Primary Health Organisations (PHOs), which provide primary care (dunh!) but may not be the perfect choice for more complicated issues.
Then again, maybe they beat the government-run alternative:
"Man told pain due to hysterectomy"
As Russell explains, it's bad enough that the system made this inane call in the first place, but in a fit of bureaucratic pique, they doubled down:
"Mr Kennington's nurse took the matter up with the DHB [District Health Board] but they just sent the same report back. Which means, that even when a nurse said there was something wrong, they didn't even look at it."
And believe it or not, it gets worse.
Go read the whole thing.
Then again, maybe they beat the government-run alternative:
"Man told pain due to hysterectomy"
As Russell explains, it's bad enough that the system made this inane call in the first place, but in a fit of bureaucratic pique, they doubled down:
"Mr Kennington's nurse took the matter up with the DHB [District Health Board] but they just sent the same report back. Which means, that even when a nurse said there was something wrong, they didn't even look at it."
And believe it or not, it gets worse.
Go read the whole thing.
Posts
