Yesterday I posted about an article in our regional paper giving details of a report from the Dept of Health figures indicating that patients here in NI wait six months for an ECG.
This morning I rang the press secretary of the Heart, Chest and Stroke Association who had released the report and it appears that the paper got it wrong. The test which was described and named as an ECG should have been an echocardiogram. Not quite as awful as waiting for an ECG but equally damaging and threatening to health and life in many cases.
The reasons for the dreadful backlog could affect any part of the UK and are threefold: poor, just-in-time forward planning, lack of highly qualified physiologists in NI and an ageing population. Apparently the Dept of Health identified the need 2 years ago for 5 extra physiologists when the waiting list for an echocardiogram was 600 people. Funds were allocated but 2 years on, these 5 have not been appointed and the problem has mushroomed to 6000.
Obviously, my next step is to regale my Westminster MP but it raises some very worrying possibilities for the future of specialisms within the NHS where recruitment is concerned. We have a population of 1.5 million with 30,000 diagnosed AF patients and goodness knows how many more on that awful waiting list, getting worse and risking their health.
It's so depressing and the future from April Fool's Day looks even worse.
Written by
Finvola
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I live in the US...what you describe sounds like our Veteran's Administration ("VA") hospitals...they are government operated. A tragedy for those who served our country and were severely injured, and need medical care. Many horror stories about delayed or inadequate medical treatment. However, that is the only government run hospital system we have...thankfully.
We have Medicare for those 65 and over, which while overly bureaucratic due to Federal Government involvement, has one critical difference. Medicare only negotiates the rates that doctors will be paid for procedures, seeing patients, tests, etc. They are basically only a paying mechanism, and (thankfully) stay out of running the health system itself. There is not a private and public health system, only the private system run more like a normal business, not by the government. The government via Medicare merely determines what amounts MD's will receive for procedures for those over age 65.
A few MD's avoid Medicare patients since they tend to be paid less per procedure, but the vast majority accept Medicare and one can go to specialists anywhere in the US if have a complex situation.
I had two ablations in March, and had an echocardiogram about a week before, which I understood was to provide my EP with data needed to perform a successful ablation. So, if echocardiograms are limited by the government, in effect it seems they are reducing the chance that ablations performed will be fully effective.
Also had an echocardiogram a week or two after ablation to rule out a possible follow-on issue.
Each echocardiogram was merely authorized by the EP, and performed the same day or next day.
The US healthcare system has issues, mostly for those under age 65 who tend to have very high insurance rates. But turning anything over to the Federal or State Governments to operate, rather than leaving it in the private sector where there is competition to serve customers and patients, and continual innovation, has generally been a nightmare experience in the US.
A very good description of what medicare does for us in the US. We are not without our problems but I am 74 and almost always get the care my doctors recommend and I choose to have in a very timely manner. And I can choose another doctor if my current one isn't meeting my needs just by making an appointment. I feel very lucky to have this medical system. I just hope our COC (Commander-in-Chief) leaves it alone. In my opinion when our government takes over many things go south!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Any recommendations for a BP monitor that is accurate when in AF.
5 times larger stroke risk
PAF for over two years, but now 'heart block'?
How accurate are the BP machines from your local chemist? 
ALWAYS get a second opinion
