Nom de Blog: Is That an Elephant in the Waiting Room?

The Fraser Institute (FI) has an amazing observation. The think-tank found:
“That the time between being referred by a general practitioner and seeing a specialist grew to 9.2 weeks from 8.8 weeks in 2006, while the second stage of waiting -- between seeing the specialist and getting the operation -- edged up from nine to 9.1 weeks.”
The Institute has recommendations (drawn from European countries) that would go a ways to solving the problem - user fees, competition with a private system for publicly funded treatment and the establishment of a separate system that would siphon off some of the demand. (In other words a two tier system).

But we don’t have to look to Europe for solutions, just the closest strip mall and the veterinarian clinic and dentists office. In these healthcare fields we have competition and we aren’t held to ransom by government unions.
What's the cost to society of people in waiting rooms, in waiting for diagnosis and waiting for treatment?
Last week, sadly, I took my beloved (but elderly) pooch to the vet, to discover why he was losing weight.
That same day he had blood tests, x-ray and ultra-sound. Neither I nor my dog had to wait and agonize as to his status.
Because the invisible hand of the free market has made sure that in the veterinarian business there are enough human resources with the right skills backed up by the right technology to deliver what the customer wants for their pets.
The profit motive may not suit some people's philosophy, but it does a heck of a job delivering services to our pets.
I encourage you to visit this link for more.