And our mental health services are horrid too. A friend has been on one guy’s waiting list for a couple years. They finally were just recommended a few other therapists and have been on their waiting list for a few months, though maybe soon…
when I needed a new PCP because I finally got insurance after a decade of just hoping nothing went too badly wrong, I ended up having to wait 8 months after 3 local practices weren’t accepting new patients at all.
One time I had to schedule a doctor’s appointment so far in advance that by the time my appointment was coming up, I knew it was going to conflict with my final exams. The semester hadn’t started when I made the appointment. When I rescheduled, it was going to be another five months. So I said fuck that, and that was nearly two years ago. Not sure what the answer is supposed to be.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s far from all rosy in here. Specialist visits are hard to come by, I got one for next year, and only by calling over and over to check for any cancellations, got lucky to have it moved to next month. Still got another one for next year, no luck moving it so far.
But otherwise GPs are like that: 10min visit every week with an appointment, or a home call if you got a documented history, or… well, as a walk-in you either go to the ER, which gets everyone through triage right away, but after that can take hours for someone to see you (some even have died waiting, mostly during the pandemic), or have to wait until the last appointment at the local clinic.
It’s been getting somewhat harder over the last couple decades, and they keep trying to do some cuts to push for private insurance, and some services are still not covered (like optician, therapy, or dental only covering extractions) but so far the GP and ER are free for all and reasonably accessible.
In the US, they would never even consider giving you ten minutes as a walk-in, and the next available appointment would be three months from now
3 months?! That’s impressive. I’m waiting until December for an appointment I’ve needed since March.
And our mental health services are horrid too. A friend has been on one guy’s waiting list for a couple years. They finally were just recommended a few other therapists and have been on their waiting list for a few months, though maybe soon…
Only 10 months to go for me for a preliminary consult for a surgery to alleviate chronic pain wooooo
when I needed a new PCP because I finally got insurance after a decade of just hoping nothing went too badly wrong, I ended up having to wait 8 months after 3 local practices weren’t accepting new patients at all.
One time I had to schedule a doctor’s appointment so far in advance that by the time my appointment was coming up, I knew it was going to conflict with my final exams. The semester hadn’t started when I made the appointment. When I rescheduled, it was going to be another five months. So I said fuck that, and that was nearly two years ago. Not sure what the answer is supposed to be.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s far from all rosy in here. Specialist visits are hard to come by, I got one for next year, and only by calling over and over to check for any cancellations, got lucky to have it moved to next month. Still got another one for next year, no luck moving it so far.
But otherwise GPs are like that: 10min visit every week with an appointment, or a home call if you got a documented history, or… well, as a walk-in you either go to the ER, which gets everyone through triage right away, but after that can take hours for someone to see you (some even have died waiting, mostly during the pandemic), or have to wait until the last appointment at the local clinic.
It’s been getting somewhat harder over the last couple decades, and they keep trying to do some cuts to push for private insurance, and some services are still not covered (like optician, therapy, or dental only covering extractions) but so far the GP and ER are free for all and reasonably accessible.