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Charter Health Crowd

I am distressed ...

Lesley, Sidney, BC

May 8th, 2014

 

I am distressed that in an advanced first world country like Canada, I have found myself in serious discomfort with a significantly reduced quality of life but have had no option but to wait in interminable queues for specialist appointments, followed by subsequent tests which have then taken multiple months to come through. Treatment in these situations has been delayed for periods of between 6 months to a year which to me, amounts to treatment being effectively withheld. Ironically, this situation is justified on the basis of Socialist thinking although I wholly fail to understand the moral superiority it is supposed to represent. Perhaps it was morally superior when the system could cope with the numbers involved but when it can't cope, it quickly becomes inhumane. I seriously doubt this is what Tommy Douglas originally intended. Tommy Douglas was Scottish and I know that the private medical system in Scotland runs very comfortably in parallel with an efficient Scottish National Health Service.

And I certainly do not see it as just or right that politicians should decree that I have no alternative . If I earn money during my lifetime by my own personal efforts and decide to use my personal resources to secure me the help I desperately need, then it is bordering on cruelty and totalitarianism to say you will not have this alternative or receive this help. In a Western democracy, surely this decision should be mine and not be taken from me by the State? I had surgery at the Cambie Clinic in March this year which represented a lifeline for me. Without this, I would have been increasingly debilitated by lunchtime each day and completely unable to get on with my daily life. Under the BC system, my surgery would have been scheduled for late this year. I really do not know what I would have done without Brian Day's initiative and determination and without the professional expertise and exceptional support at the Cambie Clinic, For them I have nothing but endless gratitude . You are very brave to face the self righteous forces which oppose you and I can only hope that the outcome in September is one that supports the lifeline private clinics offer. My heartfelt thanks. We will donate.

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