i wrote this letter to local newspaper.

[sico]

To whom this may concern,
                                     I think (local rag) should do a story on how incompetent (local Hospital) is. I know this from personal experience. On Melbourne Cup Day 2008 i presented at the emergency department with blurred vision and swollen ankles. After a 3 to 4 hour wait (which is not my main concern) they looked into my eyes with some torch like instrument and checked my blood sugar (which was fine). Then i was told to go to an Optometrist the next day. So i go to the Optometrist, he took photo's of the inside of my eyes and said "i think your eyesight is the least of your problems, go to the Eye and Ear Hospital TODAY'.

So i get my sister to drive me into the Eye and Ear Hospital's emergency department, they check my blood pressure and it's 215/125. After doing a few tests on my eyes they put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me over to St Vincents via the underground tunnel between the two. I was finally where i needed to be, surrounded by staff that know what they're doing. Where i soon found out my kidney's were failing. I had a catheter placed in my upper thigh/groin to be on dialysis that night and have been on dialysis since.

I was basically on my deathbed when i ended up at St Vincents. The outcome would not have been any different had (local Hospital) picked this up. But any Doctor should notice signs of renal failure, this was a serious life or death situation.
               
Thanks for your time,
Brad Smith


They were going to run a story but have decided to do a letter to the editor. I'm just getting it out there.
And you couldn't pay me to go to my local hospital now.

[Rerun]

So, what do you think of Socialized Medicine?   

Good job.  Call them out.

[Yvonne]

My local doctor treated John for 1 month, said his symptoms were old age related. After a month of coming and going to the doctors I eventually went with him and demanded some thing more should be done.  The doctor said alright go to the hospital tomorrow and get a blood test, that afternoon when the results came back to the doctor he rang us to say get John in to hospital as soon as you can, we did this and he was diagnosed with renal failure, the hospital said another 4 days and John would have died. That was just the start of a very sick journey for John.
So it just goes to show they are all the same. Hopeless.