Editor: The present health care system we have in effect is failing us big time.
There is no sense of urgency in the system. The system is run on a first-come, first-served basis.
The doctor fills out the form for a medical procedure, hands the request to a receptionist who then makes the appointment.
We only live once with our bodies. We are not a car, boat, or a refrigerator, where waiting until parts are found is OK, because these items can still be repaired regardless of the time factor.
The exact opposite is true when it comes to our bodies, which are like a time bomb.
Time is of the utmost importance in medical issues.
The forms doctors fill out should have three option boxes that the doctor must check off — “can’t wait,” “can wait,” and “exploratory.”
After operations for cancer, for example, further CAT scans, MRIs, etc. are required.
The waiting times are too long for these further tests and the results mean nothing as the cancer has advanced, but if the test was done using “can’t wait,” further procedures could have been done to stop the cancer from spreading further.
If two people require knee replacement operations and one is still walking without a cane while the other is walking with two canes, the present system is allowing the person not using a cane to have their operation first.
There is no sense of urgency. The person still walking without a cane should have the box checked off as “can wait,” and the person using two canes should have the box checked off as “can’t wait.”
All we hear about the present medical system is that we need more employees and longer operating hours. That is complete hogwash.
Put the above three-box check off system into action and the system and wait times would no longer be a factor.
Joe Sawchuk,
Duncan
