My son had an emergency appendectomy this week. It started with agonising pain, which was diagnosed as gastroenteritis despite not having those symptoms. Two injections and some pills and off to bed. That night, he is writhing in pain. I phone the doc (he answered!) and asked if he had tested for appendicitis. Yes, but the symptoms weren't presenting. 3.30am more writhing and a temperature. Off to the doc first thing - sends off blood test just to make sure (apparently 60% of appendectomies are done in error) and by mid-day we are off to the surgeon. Within 45 minutes, my son is in theatre and is there for an hour and a half while they clean up the poison from the ruptured appendix. He is subsequently in hospital for a further 4 days and told he was in a bad way and is a very lucky young man (is this a reference to having survived?). Still on painkillers and antibiotics for another 10 days.
The point of this story: I got the anaesthetist's bill. On it are 2 items for after-hours and away from rooms attendance. I phoned the accounts lady and queried this. She informed me that if you have an emergency operation, the doctor is allowed to charge certain extra fees for having shifted his existing appointments. Question from me: Can you reschedule an emergency operation to an appointment and if so, will those charges fall away?
Answer: Errr, yeeess?
Q: Is the purpose of an emergency operation so that you do not die before the appointment?
A: Errr, yeeess?
Q: So we are being penalised for the inconvenience of having a life-threatening emergency?
A: Well, I suppose if you put it that way....
Q: Who has set these fees?
A: A medical authority.
Q: Do they have a brain?
A: It doesn't seem like it...
Q: Would you like to have an emergency operation?
A: Not really...
Q: So you agree that this is just an excuse to raise an extra fee because nobody will choose to die rather than live?
A: It seems like it....
So there you have it - the high cost of living.
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