sphinctersaurus wrote:Yup NG, it really does suck doesn't it.
I visited my GP today to ask if there was anything I could do. He said that unless I could prove that the situation had worsened dramatically, then ... no. So that's it apparently. I can't even reapply. He assured me they would NOT change their minds.

DOH that's terrible! Are there ANY alternatives at all? Can you seek private treatment at all, or does that not exist or is forbiddingly expensive? Since I'm only familiar with privatized health care, I have no idea how a public system works. There are both public and private options, right? I'm like Dawn: even with private health care, I saw a bunch of different docs before starting on appropriate treatment. I can't imagine having to wait 6 months just for an initial visit. Surely there must be some other choice :(

Yeah, there's public and private treatment availabe here in NZ. I could go private for the op (all my CRS visits so far have been private), but unfortunately I was forced to pay for an operation last year that set me back about $14,000 ... so that has pretty much left me tapped out financially. The tax payer funded system here used to be excellent, but things have changed in the past decade or so, and now people are beginning to die on waiting lists. What we have now seems to be a mixture of private and public. You'll need private, but you'll have to pay for public aswell! I had sort of assumed that NZs system was very similar to that in the UK, but theirs looked pretty great in that Michael Moore doco ... 'Sicko'
(not sure if that's the right title), so maybe not.
I see you're from the UK Orchid, maybe you can elighten us on its accuracy.
So yeah ... thinking cap on and ... well ...... thinking!

Hey I didn't know Michael Moore's movies made their way overseas as well In all seriousness, I'm sorry to hear about your op last year and of course how things are going now. Hopefully both yourself (still LOVE your username BTW!) and Orchid can get some resolution in the near future without a monstrous wait.

Why thanks,
You know, it's almost a triple entendre if you think about it ... and squint you're eyes a little.

I'm in the Swedish public health care system, and I got a similar letter (but with a 3 month wait). What seems to be working for me to "cut in line" is to tell them that I can't go to work. I don't know what the system is in the UK or NZ, but when you're sick and can't go to work, the government still has to pay you, and they lose even more money on that. Maybe some magic words for you guys to try? Good luck.