A Two-Year Wait For Medical Treatment! Is That Right?

… met up with some old high school friends and learned that one buddy who's suffering from a hearing ailment has been told by his medical specialist he has to wait a ridiculous two years to get an MRI scan to diagnose the cause of his problem. TWO YEARS!!!

... in my (limited) personal experience with the medical system i've found that it’s efficient and i get taken care of pretty quickly so i was a little surprised to hear how long my buddy has to wait for treatment …

... but i also have an elderly friend i met on the bus who was saying he had to wait eighteen months to see a specialist about a leg ailment he was suffering from ...

.... has anyone else encountered a lengthy wait-time for medical treatment like my friends? is this actually happening? or are they just getting unusually shoddy service and should find new doctors?

... comments?

 

this is canada! patient has to with patient.

 

... thanks for your repliy, shaw!

 

I waited from October to May for eye surgery....

 

I got an MRI in less than 10 days-I think your friend needs a new MD.

 

That's not the norm. Typical wait times for an MRI are 6 months to a year in Vancouver for routine indications.

It depends on where your doctor books it as well. For ultrasounds at least, there are certain providers well known among the medical community with very short wait times. However it often comes at a cost of lower quality images and reports by the radiologists.

Wait times for imaging, specialists and surgery are long here. Having a family doctor who knows how to navigate the system helps too.

 

Do you still have to wait along time if you have private health insurance ?

 

... maybe. or maybe you're just a very important person, bill!

... thanks to all of the above for your replies ...

... to answer chrissy's question, correct me if i'm wrong people, but even with private health insurance you're still get your medical care through the same public system that everyone else uses ...

 

Oh !!!!
In the UK as your probably aware we have what called the National health which caters for anyone and every ones health from every nationality who lives here , but like yourself if not a medical emergency there are waiting lists which can be quite long .
Myself , i pay for private insurance called Bupa and most of the time after you`ve been seen by a consultant for whatever and its need sorting , you can be in within say two weeks.

 

We do have private clinics that can take patients alot quicker than the regular public system....

 

Sadly, this is not uncommon especially for those who don't have medical insurance and are poor. I remember studying something similar to this situation in a class for my degree in Social Science. It discussed the quality of life and how it differs base on economics and social class. Now, this isn't to suggest that those who are middle or maybe upper class do not experience issues with hospitals. I have read plenty of stories of how the medical field does not always discriminate base on class. What you describe is something closely associated with people in a neighborhood I grew up in as a child. I was poor and lived in a low income neighborhood. I can tell you certain clinics available in my area were horrible with callous physicians. Ugh. My suggestion is for your friend to seek a second opinion and research his options. I have never relied on one physician's word as the Bible so to speak.

 

2 years to get an MRI scan? I assume there must be a different reason, why he has to wait that long. Most people would be dead by that time, if they got something bad :s

 

... yes, it was a two year wait for a scan. however, the ailment he's suffering from isn't life endangering, so maybe it wasn't considered high priority and he was placed down the wait list ...

... thanks to all the above for your replies ...

 

I agree!

 

... my friend who had to wait two years for the MRI scan lives in the city so perhaps that too can factor into wait times: the denser the population of the area where the patient resides the greater the wait?

 

As usual your head isn't screwed on straight-more people equates many more machines-anyone who sits around waiting for two years is themself @ fault for not following up with their MD.

 

... excellent advice, May102014! thanks very much for your suggestion!