Danny,
don't get the idea that Private EM is the same as 'Public EM'. As one with
recent experience in both systems, I can tell you it's not. Private EM
tends to attract a subset of the EM population based purely on ability to
pay. You don't get any trauma, psych, hobos and rascals etc. It becomes
like a 'sanitized' version of EM and in the end not all that rewarding.
In Australia, the conditions are similar in both systems. Certainly not as
busy in Private, but fewer opportunities for teaching / learning,
interaction with colleagues and at least here a lot *more* shift work in
private than public (at consultant level)
Interestingly, people are more than happy to pay for what they perceive
(rightly or wrongly) to be a superior service. They run zero chance of
getting an Intern / Foreign graduate who got their degree off the back of a
cornflakes packet. At a private hospital I worked at recently, the out of
pocket expense went up 80% in 18 months in an attempt to cap demand (small
department). It had absolutely no effect because people thought that if
they were paying that much, they must be getting something special for their
money. Also, those who couldn't afford the lower fee still couldn't afford
the higher one.
Still, EM in Australia vastly different to EM in the UK. I have worked in
both public and private sectors here in Oz, and have chosen to work in
public for now.
Best,
Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: "Danny McGeehan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 3:21 PM
Subject: private "casualty"
> It is not a new concept. I remember travelling down from E'burgh with a
fellow A&E Consultant from, if my memory serves me correct, from Lewisham
who was going into a Private A&E Department. This was about 5 years ago. I
often wonder what happened. He was a good looking dark haired chap with a
Welsh name. Something like Jones or Lewis.
>
> In South Africa where I worked for a time and revisited a few years ago,
A&E was quite a lucrative field. The flashy Private Hospitals had Emergency
Units. I found it amazing, in the UK we were shutting them down and yet in
the private sector they were positively attracting work. The new hospital
at Umphlanga Rocks outside Durban had a superb unit and actively took
Trauma.
>
> By the by if Emergency Work was properly funded and resourced then Units
would flourish in the UK. Unfortunately as we all know this is not the
case.
>
> Seriously though if a similar unit opened within travelling distance to me
I'd give the NHS two fingers and be off like a shot. I could look after
proper patients and not have useless NHS managers telling me what to do.
>
> There are a few A&E Consultants that seem to do some Private work. I may
be wrong and if I am I apologise but I think Mike Allen does some fairly
acutish A&E private practice. If one is hard working there is a niche.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Danny McGeehan
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Email provided by http://www.ntlhome.com/
>
|