Makes me see red
I read, today, an intersting article on the ABC website about some of the issues faced by rural and regional people who have breast cancer or are at high risk of developing it. I'm not as remote as the woman who was featured, but even here there are struggles.
One of the biggest issues is affordable specialist care. There are few, if any, public services and you do not always get informed about them. You get referred to the company that covers your region even if there are more affordable services within reach. I've spent ten years fighting this fight, and I know what the facts are.
ABC interviewed an oncologist who agreed that, yes, there are unique challenges that lead to poor outcomes for county folk. Distance is one thing, cost is another. If you are on a pension or low income and have to fork out specialist fees that are well above the metropolitan rates it makes a shitty situation even worse.
It is a pity ABC did not ask that individual what they, and their business, was doing to address equity of access for rural and regional people. I really do wish they had asked that. I wonder what the answer would be? Last time I asked a member of that business that exact question, in a public forum, the response was 'Be careful what you wish for, you wouldn't want to be waiting in clinics like the big public hospitals.' Really. Most of us have either money or time. You should not have to go into debt to fund services that are bulk billed elsewhere. This shit infuriates me.
One of the biggest issues is affordable specialist care. There are few, if any, public services and you do not always get informed about them. You get referred to the company that covers your region even if there are more affordable services within reach. I've spent ten years fighting this fight, and I know what the facts are.
ABC interviewed an oncologist who agreed that, yes, there are unique challenges that lead to poor outcomes for county folk. Distance is one thing, cost is another. If you are on a pension or low income and have to fork out specialist fees that are well above the metropolitan rates it makes a shitty situation even worse.
It is a pity ABC did not ask that individual what they, and their business, was doing to address equity of access for rural and regional people. I really do wish they had asked that. I wonder what the answer would be? Last time I asked a member of that business that exact question, in a public forum, the response was 'Be careful what you wish for, you wouldn't want to be waiting in clinics like the big public hospitals.' Really. Most of us have either money or time. You should not have to go into debt to fund services that are bulk billed elsewhere. This shit infuriates me.