I spotted this story from Blazing Cat Fur while browsing at The Blog of Walker.

Excerpt:

I suppose I should have been tipped off by the fact that the surgeon who performed my Mom’s angioplasty last Friday couldn’t be bothered to check up on her afterward. This same surgeon discharged her Saturday morning from TGH, Toronto General Hospital – by phone.

Tuesday afternoon my Mother suffered a “False Aneurysm“, this it was explained, is a fairly common side effect caused by the anti-clotting medication she has been prescribed. However the Brit’s inform me that “The most common cause of pseudoaneursym is femoral artery puncture during cardiac catheterisation.”

[…]She was scared, in a great deal of pain and very weak by the time she hit TGH’s ER, though commendably the paramedics had stabilized her – this was 6:20 PM. The paramedics stayed with her, monitoring her vitals and answering my questions as best they could until well after their shift ended at 7. At 8:30 PM, in order to release the paramedics my 84 year old Mother was officially admitted to TGH. Admission consisted of moving her from the ambulance gurney to a hospital gurney and pushing her 20 yards down the corridor, next to the homeless guy with the festering sores on his legs. The attentive care of the paramedics was replaced by – nothing.

We waited over an hour for a resident to finally stop by and inquire what the matter was. My shocked stare, which arose after she asked in all seriousness, if the angioplasty had been a success, caused her to retreat and summon the physician on duty. Wisely the attending doctor suggested that a physical examination was in order, she then disappeared with the resident in tow. A nurse was dispatched who informed us that my Mother would have to be undressed for the examination. Since this Angel of Mercy made no offer to assist I took it upon myself to undress my bedridden mother in a public corridor, in full view of the passing parade of visitors, patients and staff – truth be told the homeless guy was pretty discrete or at least preoccupied.

It goes on, and on, and on.

This is one of the saddest things I have ever read.

And it happens in England, too

Here is a Daily Mail story that I spotted over at The Western Experience. (And also ECM sent it)

Excerpt:

Thousands of women are having to give birth outside maternity wards because of a lack of midwives and hospital beds.

The lives of mothers and babies are being put at risk as births in locations ranging from lifts to toilets – even a caravan – went up 15 per cent last year to almost 4,000.

Health chiefs admit a lack of maternity beds is partly to blame for the crisis, with hundreds of women in labour being turned away from hospitals because they are full.

Latest figures show that over the past two years there were at least:

* 63 births in ambulances and 608 in transit to hospitals;

* 117 births in A&E departments, four in minor injury units and two in medical assessment areas;

* 115 births on other hospital wards and 36 in other unspecified areas including corridors;

* 399 in parts of maternity units other than labour beds, including postnatal and antenatal wards and reception areas.

Additionally, overstretched maternity units shut their doors to any more women in labour on 553 occasions last year.

The Western Experience also linked to the story of a man who had his appendix removed by the NHS – TWICE!

I knew that the left was concerned about the doomsday overpopulation myths, but this is ridiculous!

Further study

Learn more about health care policy from my previous posts on health care:

• Paul Krugman says that public option will lead to single-payer
• Sarah Palin on tort reform and health care cost reduction
• How Democrats are handling dissent from their health care plan
• Left-wing extremist on MSNBC says that some opponents of socialism are racists
• How Obamacare turns American taxpayers into children
• Are coerced abortions and euthanasia part of Obama’s health care plan?
• Understanding Obama’s health care reform bill… with video clips!
• Paul Ryan and Ann Coulter make the case against Obamacare
• Understand the right way to reform health care… with short podcasts!
• Five freedoms you will lost if Obamacare passes
• Marsha Blackburn explains how Tennessee’s public option plan failed
• Bobby Jindal explains a dozen freedom-preserving ways to cut health care costs
• John Stossel vs Michael Moore in 20/20 health care documentary
• Obamacare will provide health care to illegal immigrants
• Study shows 83 million people will lose private insurance under Obamacare
• Jim Demint destroys Obama’s health care plan on the Senate floor
• Michele Bachmann explains the effect of Obamacare on small businesses
• Keith Hennessey and Howard “Mad How” Dean debate Obamacare