Leprosy

Described in the Oxford dictionary as:

A contagious disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves, causing discolouration and lumps on the skin and, in severe cases, disfigurement and deformities. Leprosy is now mainly confined to tropical Africa and Asia.

But they're wrong. No the correct definition is in the AMA manual. That's right the Australian Medical Association, defines leprosy as “He who doth not have medical insurance.”

Sorry Doc, if you take money from Medicare to treat or consult him / her, then you treat that patient as you would any other. I have been consulting Macquarie Neurosurgery for a number of years, in relation to a spine injury sustained in a car accident.

I have always considered surgery a last resort, for when the pain became so severe, even the horror stories associated with spinal surgery, can’t be any worse. That day has come, following the five abdominal surgeries in two years, I no longer have the core strength to sustain the spine injury.

The surgeon I have been seeing does not operate under the public system. I saw him last back in May, clearly in pain. Long story short, nothing we spoke about at that meeting happened. After repeated calls, emails, finally losing my temper and becoming unpleasant a referral to Royal North Shore was sent. Except RNS didn’t have it, more detective work, a few more days, oops, gone to the wrong practice.

Nobody seems to care, after all, even a Surgeon can’t bill Medicare for a patient he’s handed over to the public system. It finally got there last Tuesday. Yesterday, Thursday, I got a phone call from the Hospital, having expected to wait 6 weeks for just a phone call, they call in 48 hours. I was stunned and made sure they understood how grateful I am. “That’s OK, we can see you need help.”

I am so pleased that I have been offered an appointment next Wednesday, the 28^th. Don’t know how long I will have to wait for the operation, but I at least have something to aim at.

I seem to have had a lot of trouble with Doctors, and Surgeons of late, I remain unimpressed with our health service especially out Minister, one Greg Hunt, who is missing in action, arrogant, narcissistic, little prick.

So Who Runs the Health Service?

Well here in Coffs Harbour we have Dr Theresa Beswick. The Coffs Clinical Network Coordinator has overall responsibility for the coordination and strategic management of all public health services of the Network from Red Rock in the north, Dorrigo to the west and Scotts Head to the south. This includes all community based services as well as the hospitals at Coffs Harbour, Macksville, Bellingen and Dorrigo. The Network Coordinator is also the General Manager of the Coffs Harbour Health Campus. But It’s not her. 

Then there’s Stewart Dowrick. For more than 25 years, Stewart Dowrick has advocated for and worked towards greater access to quality health care for communities. Appointed the Chief Executive of the Mid North Coast Local Health District in January 2011, Mr Dowrick works with the region’s clinicians and the community to provide health care through strategic and quality management. But it’s not him. 

David Weiss, he’s the First Assistant Secretary, Medical Benefits Division. He might have some control over billing, apparently not. And from my experience not much interest in it either. 

Not all is lost, there’s always the Minister for Health the Hon Greg Hunt MP, surely he has some control over his own portfolio? 

Guess again. No, after four months of excruciating pain, deteriorating health, mounting personal costs, five operations in three years, and looking straight down the barrel of two more, I have reached the inevitable conclusion that our Health Service is in fact controlled by the AMA. 

 The Australian Medical Association have got the game by the balls, as they say. If a mechanic services your car, and fails to do so correctly, it’s covered by warranty, your rights as a consumer are enshrined by law. Mechanics should join the AMA, then they could charge you for correcting their own mistakes, what a lurk! Medicare keeps paying them, irrespective of incompetence, negligence, or over servicing, they’re invincible. 

Is it not time that the medical industry operate under the same laws as the rest of us. Is it not time for the medical profession be held accountable?

Tea Bags and Totalitarianism

In today’s society, where freedom of speech is under threat.

Where freedom of movement, is under threat. Where education is homogenised into obedience, where our very structure demands compliance, where we prescribe drugs for our children to keep them quiet and compliant.

In today's’ society where our elected representatives seek to control us. To demand, and even legislate our compliance, to do as they would not be done by. No longer satisfied with eroding our freedom of speech, but now our freedom, nay our right. “To Be Heard!”

Is it any wonder then, that they choose to deprive us now of loose leaf tea. The end is coming. Be warned, beware.

This joint venture between Saten and the Americans, I refer of course to tea bags, beware they are taking over the tea section in our supermarkets as we speak. The end of loose leaf tea is nigh!

Stand up before it’s too late, before loose leaf tea vanishes before our eyes, to be consigned to history along with the free world. It’s 1984, all over again.

Why it's not Grand Central.

Perspective

No one is going to complain about getting a tax cut, those that are fortunate enough to be earning enough to pay tax.
But it’s all brought into perspective when transiting through Central Satiation Sydney. Where one is unavoidably confronted with the number of people calling this home. People living out of a bag, sleeping rough. People my age, on a pension forced onto the streets due to escalating housing and rental costs.
And the sad realisation that I have done little to voice my opinion in support of the disadvantaged. There but for the grace of God go I. Of course, it’s not just Sydney, it’s here in Coffs Harbour, but not as in your face as Sydney. It’s everywhere and becoming more and more commonplace, and we still don’t vocalise our concern at the direction of our culture.
I criticise myself for remaining silent, but then I’m in a serious exchange with the relevant ministers trying to get adequate health care, that “’m supposedly entitled to.
If all the little voices get into unison, it will become a seriously big and loud voice.
Don’t remain silent.

Train Wreck

The new Metro North West line, these barriers along the platform open in unison with the train doors, so you can't fall in front of the train. They're taking all the fun out of my work, what's an Assassin supposed to do? A gentle well timed nudge was all it took. Just wait, it will be the pedestrian crossing next, then you won't be able to run anyone down.

A Civic Duty

A Civic Duty

He was still wearing that stupid chef's hat when he came into view. It was a damp drizzly, dark night, and rear entrance of the TV studio, it was a stark and wet, almost chilling backdrop. I had him in my sights as he opened the rear door of his chauffeur driven Bentley, it was a good night for affirmative action.

This guy seemed to have 4 cooking shows a night on four different TV channels, and those that weren’t running him were running re-runs.

I had a civic duty to perform, as I gently squeezed the trigger. Oops, might have over done it a bit with the ammo, it was a lousy colour to paint a Bentley anyway, metallic lime green, I ask you, the man had no taste. For a moment his body remained in its crouched position as he was about to enter the car, but just above his shoulders it was as though a water melon had exploded, puréed one might say.

The green Bentley was the perfect backdrop, it was like salad dressing, deli style, Italian herb maybe, and as the white chef's hat came fluttering down it was like a dollop of cream on top, poetry, shear poetry. I'm an artist with an M85.

Well that's a few less cooking shows we have to endure, off to channel 9 now, the footy show is about to finish up. I've got a Kalashnikov for them. It's a dirty job I know, but be grateful there are those of us out there prepared to do our civic duty.