Yeah it's fucking cooked in NSW's public system too
Like repeat ER visits because they don't have basic equipment or can't give patients an urgent MRI. ER full of junkies wanting meds to ease their come downs while patients sit for hours to be triaged. Watched groups of nurses sit idle and chat, with doctors telling them multiple times patients need pain meds. No security staff around when junkies are harassing people in the ER.
Repeat visits and their costs would be reduced with better policy, better staffing. Patient outcomes would be better and cheaper to treat instead of making them wait a week for scans for crippling injuries.
Urgent cares turning people away who clearly meet criteria drive more people into ERs. The ability for our healthcare system, even when not busy, to deliver timely services is shocking