Reply 2354#2354 cshapiro's post
Universal health care is lovely, truly, but I find that there still is a marked difference in patient treatment between private and public health care. Those who can afford private insurance here, do. Universal health care should be available (Although I don't believe that mandated health care coverage is a good idea but that's another story) AND the standards of such heath care should be equal to that of private health care, but that does not tend to be the case. [ I grew up very poor and we were always on the public health care system in the US (Medicaid), so when I was very poor, I was covered. Once I grew up and started making money on my own, I no longer qualified for Medicaid, but couldn't afford private insurance either. So I understand the difficulties of a purely private system and those who can't afford it.]
Some of my experiences with the UK heath system.
A guy I work with needed surgery on his arm. The public heath care system had him scheduled for 3 months in the future. He went to a private doctor and was able to get into surgery in 2 weeks.
When I was in the hospital for 5 days, it was the public hospital (I didn't know the difference then!). It was really not a pleasant experience (not that hospitals ever are). I never had the same doctor. I saw a doctor once per day. No medical tests or discharges were done on weekends or after certain times of day. In five days, they only managed to complete one test (an ultrasound) and that was only after I had asked the nurse and 2 of the doctors when they were going to do it. I was in a ward, there were 8 women in my room.
After being informed by one of the ladies on the ward about the private hospital here, I finally got myself discharged from the public hospital. Because I have private insurance through the military, I was able to be seen at the private hospital. The difference was amazing. I was scheduled for the tests I needed right away, I had one doctor to oversee my treatment, and there was a signficant difference in the courtesy of the staff.
Anyway! Just wanted to share my two cents on that subject.
Onto another: I quit my job today.
Originally I was very happy to get this job. I wanted something to do while my son was in school so was working part-time, at first I was working from 10am to 4pm. I asked if we could change it to from 9am-3pm Tues-Friday and about 8 hours on Saturday for a total of 32 hours a week so I would be available to bring and get my son from school. Around Christmas time, they needed some extra help at the store and asked if I would work 39 hours a week for a while. I said ok.
At the end of January, I asked to go back down to 32 hours a week, but was told they couldn't do that! Apparently, they had put in paperwork to the home office changing my contract hours to 39 hours per week until the end of September. I was mad, but I said ok, I can deal with that as long as we can arrange something so on the days my husband is unable to pick my son up from school, I will be able to. Ok, so I was now working 39 hours a week at my part time job. This means I was at work for 41.5 hours a week (lunches).
After coming back off sick leave, my new manager informed me that the old management had allowed the employees too much flexibility and too many accommodation to the employees and that the employees should be accommodating the needs of management instead. She also informed me that I would be moved from the section I was working in to the front office (which I was ok with). I explained to her that I was happy to move and I was ok with the schedule changes, but the only thing I asked was to not come in until 9am (otherwise I would need a sitter in the morning and in the afternoon). I get my schedule the next day: 8:30am-5:30pm this week and 7:30am-4:30pm next week. I tried talking to her about it and all I could get out of her was basically, It doesn't matter what you want, this is what I need.
So between this new rigidness in scheduling, her general attitude and the fact my husband will be in Afghanistan (leaving in November) and I will be single parenting for 9 months, I went in Monday to talk to the other manager (her boss). I told him the situation and informed him I would be putting in my two week notice. This morning, I was getting ready for work and I couldn't for the life of me understand why I was bothering with the two week notice- the times they wanted me to work made things very difficult. SO I went in this morning and gave him written intention of immediate resignation. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted already.
Wow, didn't mean to write so much. Thanks for letting me rant lol.
"To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting."
E. E. Cummings
