There IS a free lunch.

We all  know the saying, 'there's no such thing as a free lunch', saying that we generally don't get anything without effort or cost in some way.

Well I tend to disagree on at least one matter. This morning Peter went into hospital to have his gall bladder removed. We didn't know he had a problem until a scan for a different problem showed all these gall stones. He had gone to the GP to find out about some pains he was getting, and there, as large as life, showing up right at the top of the scan, were a bunch of gall stones.

The doctor arranged for him to see a specialist at the Gold Coast hospital, and he was put on the waiting list to have it removed.

brisbanetimes.com.au    The current Gold Coast hospital.

Now, no health system is perfect. And here in Australia, there are myriads of complaints about the health system. But you know, if you are sick, you get seen.

Peter was told he was level 2, which means urgent but not emergency, and he would have the op within three months. As it turns out, he has had it done in about 4 or 5 weeks. The thinking behind it was, it is not an emergency yet, but leave it and it may become an emergency and then everyone will be scarpering to get things done and it could get very complicated.

But the beauty of the health system here is that for pensioners and for low income earners, practically everything is free health care. Many people decry the 'social welfare' system here, saying it costs too much, but when  you are retired, and don't have a large income, medical costs can be crippling.

So for us, two old birds on the pension, this is how the government looks after us.

Most general practitioners do not charge pensioners, all visits are free. Generally, specialist visits are free. X-rays, and other imaging is free. Pathology, blood tests etc are free. We pay for our medication but at a subsidised rate, so our medicines might cost us around $5 per script. If you have an emergency you call the ambulance and that is free. (There is a cost built into one of the government taxes, but at the time of the emergency you don't have to worry about having the money to pay for it.)

When the ambulance takes you to hospital, you get treated free. If you need to be admitted, there is no cost.. They feed you and give excellent medical care. These are the services they provide.

Hospital	Cardiology, Child health, Ear, nose and throat, Emergency medicine, General medicine, General surgery, Geriatrics, Gynaecology, Haematology, Infectious diseases, Intensive care, Medical and surgical services, Nephrology - including renal dialysis, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Paediatric surgery, Plastics surgery, Rehabilitation, Respiratory medicine, Urology, Vascular surgery
Specialist Services	Acute pain service, Diabetes resource service, Early discharge program, Early pregnancy assessment clinic, NHMRC Ethics committee, Palliative care program, Parenteral therapy program, Patient liaison service, Patient safety, Post acute program, Public affairs, Quality coordination, Service improvement, Respiratory resource service, Staff counsellor, Wound management
Clinical Support Services	Medical imaging, Nutrition, Occupational therapy, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Psychology, Social work, Speech pathology

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/wwwprofiles/gcoast.asp

If you need prescription glasses or dental work, there is a bit of a wait but that is also provided free. If you have a baby, all healthcare is free including the birth, and generally all children are treated free for everything. You show up at any hospital with chest pains, they have got you on a bed with an ECG running before you can say Jack Robinson.  All this is without any health insurance scheme like USA, and other countries have.

Now, what is it like where you live? If you live in another country, your health system could be very different. When I lived in China, health care costs were a constant concern, because you have to pay for everything yourself, there is no social security system, although they are bringing in a kind of health insurance scheme. So even the poorest people had a nest egg for their old age medical costs.

But here, well, I reckon we do very well. Of course it all comes out of taxes. At the end of the day someone has to pay for all this. During our working life we paid our share of the taxes, and didn't grumble too much, knowing that we would get it back in the end.

So I thought I'd give a thumbs up to the Gold Coast hospital, and say that they do an excellent job, with top  class doctors and nurses. We are looking forward to having a brand new hospital here on the Gold Coast soon. The current one is pretty old, and the new one, being called The Griffith University Hospital looks very modern. They also have a large parking building, parking round the Gold Coast hospital is not so good.

healthdesign.com.au                The new one in progress.

Below are some pictures I took today from the window of the 6th floor of the hospital. It was a gray old day, cloudy and cool, but I hope you get a bit of a view of  Surfers Paradise central area.

The city center of Surfers Paradise, on not such a paradisey day. The high rises are mostly hotels, motels, holiday accommodation.

I guess its a bit hard to clean the windows 6 floors up sometimes. This is a view over the suburb of  Southport.

So how about leaving a comment and letting us know what your health care system is like.