Source
r/australia•
EnviousCipher

What can the ordinary person do to help the health system?

no politics

Nurses and medical staff of r/Aus, what is something (other than following health advice) the ordinary Australian can do to help reduce the strain on you guys?

We all know the medical system is running out of bodies, however theres not a lot of info on where one can go to even volunteer to help even in a modest way. I'm looking for new work and want to have a look in the sector to at least add a body to help.

The reality is if we don't start throwing bodies we're going to lose the system, and I'll be damned if theres not at least something I could do. Data entry perhaps? Im completely untrained in any medical profession, so what would I look for when looking for jobs?

Posted Jan 1, 2022, 6:01 AM UTC

6996
moonshadow50•

In the immediate climate:

Get Vaccinated & Be sensible with social distancing of yourself and those around, despite the idiotic governments who aren't taking this seriously

In general for yourself:

Have a good relationship with your GP and keep well on top of your own physical and mental health. Encourage the same of those close to you.

From a society level:

Take elections seriously and pay attention to those candidates and parties that don't give a crap about our health system (or worse about science in general). This also includes climate policies and welfare/disability/aging policies which all now and in the future create a massive burden on the health system.

214
metasophie•

Join a political party that promotes high quality universal health care and help their members to get elected.

52
bsquiggle1•

And be extra aware when undertaking potentially risky activities (covid or otherwise) - don't drink drive, start street fights, go bushwalking without being properly prepared, that sort of thing.

Don't call an ambulance or go to an emergency room unless you genuinely believe it's an emergency.

Try https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/after-hours-gp-helpline

44
EmmaPemmaPooBear•

The last one is hard. I have a toddler and during the last outbreak he had a random viral illness. His fever was not coming down enough and his breathing wasn’t great (not alarming, but not great).

No GP would see him. Even with a negative test. So I had no option but to take him to ED

7
bsquiggle1•

Absolutely, I agree it's hard, and it's definitely a grey area. As you say, you had no option. And that's a totally fine use of the emergency room in my opinion

3
imamage_fightme•

I wouldn't feel too bad about that situation - fevers in very young children can be very dangerous and it sounds like you did what you could to avoid the hospital. It can be so hard to know what to do in that situation at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic. I hope he is doing better now.

3
AccidentalPorkchop•

I'd have zero guilt about that if I were you. Your child was sick and you took care of them. Better to take them to Emergency and get them looked after than sit at home and panic everytime they took a gaspy breath.

3
EmmaPemmaPooBear•

Oh I have zero guilt

I even wrote to health minister (state and federal) about how silly it is and how GPs refusing to see kids with viral infections that have a negative covid test (or multiple) is clogging up EDs

5
noahsozark•

Don't climb a ladder

Don't do dangerous diy

Those things are big causes for er admissions

Also don't speed or tailgate

29
letmetakeyoudancing•

'Dont do that, we can't go to Emergency at the moment!' Is a saying now in our house.

26
Immediate-Ad-3538•

Ours too

2
timsnow111•

Ladders are the devil.

3
abhibeckert•

Telling people to stay away from ED is a mistake.

There's often no other option* and deciding to ignore your problem or waiting 3 months for a doctor's appointment is likely to just make your problem worse and burden the health system even more.

(* the last time we had a problem, baby with a dangerous fever, the only options were 000 or emergency or calling 13 health. We chose the last option and they said we needed to see a doctor within five hours. I knew ED wouldn't see us that quickly, and having a baby in a waiting room for 30 hours just doesn't work, so I called every 24 hour medical centre in the city and after calling then all a second time one was wiling to book us in during a doctor's lunch break, about 12 hours over the deadline the nurse gave us... and I'm sure they only gave us that appointment because it was a sick baby)

2
HiVisEngineer•

This

0
new-user-123•

Don’t vote for the LNP and other parties who want to cut Medicare, defund hospitals, refuse fair pay for nurses and doctors, and who cut support for universities and institutions that train those who eventually work in health

106
ProceedOrRun•

... and ultimately privatise the whole thing...

19
AkaiMPC•

Never vote liberal

103
a_cold_human•

True enough. They opposed Medicare (and its predecessor Medibank). They've constantly white anted the public health system. For example:

  • Howard's subsidy of PHI and setup of tax redirection in order to force money into the private health system (which would be a tiny fraction of its size if left to the free market)
  • Howard's undermining of the PBS under the AUSFTA
  • Abbott's freezing of the Medicare Benefits Schedule to eliminate bulk billing
  • Turnbull's attempt to privatise the Medicare billing system
  • Morrison's insistence on not funding the public health system during the pandemic

The Liberal Party aren't friends of public health. They know they can't straight up dismantle it, but they try to undermine and weaken it so that they will be able to eventually.

8
tru_pls•

Give blood

96
kynuna•

Hijacking this to say register to donate your organs and tissue when the time comes: https://www.donatelife.gov.au/join-register.

27
marke64896•

Something I would love to do, as my blood type is ONeg, but health policy doesn't permit, due to risk of vCJD from UK conservative government policy choices back in the late 1980's. :-(

9
yolk3d•

Agreed. I wrote this ages ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/pk26eu/donate_blood_you_can_donate_during_a_lockdown/

1
revolutionaryshoes•

As someone who just got engaged to a doctor here is how I see the situation:

The problem isn't Covid. Covid is just the straw which is breaking the camel's back, so to speak. The doctors, nurses and other medical staff were already exhausted. These people are expected to work back to back 13 hour shifts that start at 7pm, with a 30 minute commute each way, for days on end. Then, after 4-5 of these shifts, they get 24 hours off and are expected to work a 13 hour day shift (as though their bodies have had the time to recover or adjust).

They often don't have time for meals on their shifts and routinely each whatever food is left in the patient fridges.

Imagine flying to America and back every fortnight. You're jet lagged constantly, and subsisting primarily on airline food. Now imagine that you don't get to sit down for the flight.

Now imagine, that having done this to the point of exhaustion, your job is to make rapid and complicated decisions to stop people from dying (some of whom are very very close to doing so) so your stress levels are high. In the brief moments of respite, you are expected to study (at 3am lol) so that you can somehow pass your exams to become a specialist.

In any normal job, if this shit happened for a few days in a row, you would take a day or two of annual leave to recover. But they don't get to do that, leave is often required to be booked 12 months in advance. And most hospitals allow you to swap shifts ONLY if YOU can find someone to cover you.

This was the situation before covid!

Covid has added a whole lot of fuel to the fire but the system has been broken for years due to poor policy making and a politically disengaged population.

The best thing an ordinary person can do, is to stop voting for the status quo parties and their status quo policies. "Back to normal" isn't good enough for the healthcare system. We need an improvement. And to do that we need revenue, and for revenue we need taxes.

So people either need to vote for a party who are proposing a large new tax, or ring up/write to one of the major parties and barate them about where they will be getting the money from to fix this mess for the long term.

Phew. Rant over.

51
yolk3d•

Yes to all of this. I’m sure we could even dedicate more $ from current tax to healthcare instead of something random and petty, like war on cannabis or the fancy transport/lifestyle costs of parliamentarians. Hell, make an industry out of hemp and cannabis out here and tax it for the health system.

20
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
Laddo22•

I’ve applied to be a 000 Call-Taker with a goal towards becoming a 000 dispatcher.

Currently halfway through the selection process.

43
GetingOveritrn•

In my experience, having worked across 2 states and one Territories health department since March 2020 ward clerks/orderlies are probably both the most needed and easiest to crack into without specific experience. There are a number of data jobs that anyone with an admin background could do but these are still moderately competitive among health professionals starting their careers. Whilst noble and needed I don't think 000 call taker meets OPs criteria as there are thousands of professionals outside of the health system who get secondment to this role when short staffed.

11
biccy_muncher•

Would it be possible to be a part time ward clerk?

2
nonameistaken•

Yes. Some busy wards have after hours clerk (except ED). 4:30 - 8 pm I think but probs depends on workload. Great gig for uni students or someone wanting a little extra cash.

3
Rh0_Ophiuchi•

Absolutely, even being casual. It's hard to replace sick leave at the moment, so the nurses are left to do both jobs of clerk and nursing.

3
MidorriMeltdown•

The best thing anyone can do to help the health system right now, is to get vaccinated, and stay home. Do all you can to avoid getting sick.

37
Islandbreexe•

Lol no. What was the point of getting vaccinated then?

-47
MidorriMeltdown•

It's a method of avoiding getting sick, or as sick as an unvaccinated person and needing to go to hospital.

20
Islandbreexe•

So the vax doesn’t work….is basically what your telling me.

-35
MidorriMeltdown•

No, that's not what I'm telling you.
I'm telling you that it does work.
Vaccinated people who do catch the virus, have reduced symptoms, and recover a lot quicker than those who are not vaccinated. Vaccinated people are less likely to need to go to hospital, if the catch covid, and so aren't putting as much of a strain on the health care services as the unvaccinated who catch it.

24
aussie_bob:vax:•

Not dying.

6
Islandbreexe•

Hahahaha I’ve got covid, nothing but a headache. But yes keep thinking that, absolute doomers in this thread.

-22
aussie_bob:vax:•

Waste of a life then.

6
Tac0321•

Vote out the Libs, mainly.

35
averbisaword•

You could donate your body to science.

We had some VERY COOL cadavers when I was at uni.

30
[deleted]•

[deleted]

15
averbisaword•

One fave had a hip replacement where they accidentally punched through the femur on an angle and poked the shaft out the side, cracking the bone.

They put the big bits of bone back in place, reset the hip piece, tied it all up with some heavy duty surgical zip ties and called it a day.

He lived in presumably excruciating pain for years before he died.

14
MistaCharisma•

I saw that one!

There was also a (wo)man with asbestosis, it looked like a humungous set of tumors in their lungs. Don't breathe in asbestos kids.

6
candlesandfish•

Oh man. That poor guy!

My nana had one of her 3 hip replacements (my sister and I are diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos and it comes from her, she’s had both knees done too and her feet are a mess) where her leg ended up significantly shorter. Thankfully the 3rd one appears to have fixed the worst of that problem and was done when she was in her early 80s and she’s now 92!

4
waxedmerkin•

It sounds great, but its not that easy. There is a willing supply of bodies, more than what they can take, so you need something thats worth taking you. And even then you need to keep your desire to donate up to date. Im currently donating my body, and was lucky to get on the list. The specialist i see is a professor or what ever they are called is at the local university. I have a rare genetic disorder

6
allthejokesareblue•

The ones that weren't very cool were probably even more interesting, in their way.

4
Cantankerousapple•

States of decomposure can be very informative.

2
Positive-Lawfulness8•

Stay home if sick.. not move states away, if your with a positive case/partner/friend/family...isolate as well and just generally give a shit about others in the community that may have underlying conditions

26
potatoparrot•

  • If you or a family member have a complex medical condition or take multiple medications, try to carry a summary with you. It could either be a piece of paper in a wallet or in the notes app of your phone. Include the names of any specialists who look after you and the dosages of any medications you take and what time you take them. Your GP and Medicare records do not interface well/at all with the hospital records, and if you find yourself at a hospital outside your usual LHD we have to jump through hoops to access anything. In ideal circumstances this information would be readily available to anyone who looks after you, especially in an emergency, but the amount of time we spend looking through records that turn out to have out-of-date information is a huge waste of time that could be better spent actually caring for patients.

  • Donate blood or plasma if you’re in a position to do so.

26
freddy1976•

Join a political party that puts people, not profit, first.

24
LifeIsBizarre•

Where can I find a dimensional portal to take me to a Universe where one of these exists?

2
AusJackal•

This one. Vote independent or small party - doesn't really matter which one. Breaking up the power and the cashflow from the AEC can only help.

3
freddy1976•

My advice? SEP.

This anti-democratic and privacy-infringing stunt by the establishment ALP and Liberals will make it much harder for the SEP and other smaller parties to contest elections but that just means that those smaller parties will more than ever need your support.

1
Cat_From_Hood•

Get a first aid certificate. Consider joining St John's Ambulance. Get, and stay, reasonably fit. Grow and eat some fruit and vegetables, some can grow in pots. Get to know people in your street as much as is practicable, and safe. At least keep an eye on your neighbours.

22
raven19•

Consider if you really need to be seen at the ED. I know everybody is scared at the moment but a sore throat when your tolerating oral intake and not short of breath is not a medical emergency.

21
koppercoala•

Vote labour.

18
martoodeetoo•

*Labor

20
koppercoala•

That's actually a misspelling. They had it right the first time.

-13
yolk3d•

The party spells it with the American spelling.

6
koppercoala•

Yes, as I mentioned they got it right the first time. It’s a spelling error in Australian English. If you must spell it that way I’d suggest adding a (sic) so people don’t assume you’re illiterate. One day they’ll go back to the proper spelling.

-3
Weak_Platypus6293•

Obviously you have infinitely more feeling for the common good than many of those in the seats of power: congratulations. Call any of the public hospitals, talk to their HR about how you could help. Get triple vaccinated first. Try not to be an additional burden to the EDs and ICUs. Certainly wearing masks properly everywhere indoors except in one's own home and while eating is a good start. Careful 1.5+ metre distancing. Avoid anywhere crowded, go to shops in quiet times if possible - e.g. 7 am at Bunnings. Don't be shy about distancing. Limit inter-household mixing. Hand sanitise. Do telemedicine if possible (problems now with pandemic telehealth being scaled back by feds). Agitate for recognition of the heroism and professionalism of the healthcare workforce to be recognised.

17
war-and-peace•

The best way to help is to stay at home. Doing nothing is literally the best thing to do.

17
allthedreamswehad•

Lose some weight

9
SnoweCat7•

Start a backyard surgery clinic?

7
ceelose•

Crazy Dan's discount skin grafts?

4
imamage_fightme•

Remember when the election comes around that we need to vote for parties and people who want to invest in our health system and improve upon it. Don't vote for the people who have been threatening to dismantle and defund Medicare, freezing wages, and considering public health and safety less important that making money!

6