OK between work, family and campaigning I have had absolutely NO TIME for blogging.  Because of that, I have had more than a few stories back up wanting for the time to opine on them.  However, I now have a few minutes spare so here goes....

I haven't had a "Health Care Horror Stories" update in ages so it is time for that as well.  Long time readers remember some of my previous posts on the subject - prior to the election of 2008, however, during the debate on the bills there were more important things to discuss - such as what was actually IN the bill (as opposed to what Congress wanted us to believe was in the bill).  However, there were two stories that hit the inbox this week that had me seeing red - as a mother and as a daughter.

First as a mother.....from Canada...

Three-year-old Ruby Gittens does her best to keep up with her older brother and sister, but sometimes the discomfort of her hernia means she lags behind.

Watching her daughter struggle and be unable to sleep is frustrating for her mom, Tess Barlow, who is baffled by a delay in Ruby’s treatment.

Ruby now has a Sept. 8 date for surgery to repair the hernia in her groin, but that will make it 10 months since the inguinal hernia was diagnosed. During that time, it has grown and Barlow suspects her daughter has now developed a second hernia.

“My opinion is that a 10-month wait for hernia surgery on a child is ridiculous,” said Barlow, who worries about pediatric wait lists for more urgent cases.

A 2008 study out of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children showed that young children who wait more than 14 days for hernia surgery double the risk of a strangled hernia, which can damage testicles or ovaries.

But hey - as long as it's free health care it's all OK - right?

Now we go across the pond for the story that had me seething as a daughter who is dealing with an ailing parent.

As a hospital cleaner, Margaret Cummins dedicated years of her life to the Health Service.

She would keep the buildings spick and span  -  and go out of her way to help the sick and reassure those in distress.

But if she expected a little respect in return when she became a cancer patient, she was very wrong.

Instead, the 74-year-old's family were told that she could not have a vital scan because that particular unit was closed at weekends.

The locum doctor said: 'We'll do it on Monday  -  if she's still here.'

That crass remark was among 36 criticisms levelled at Northampton General Hospital, where Mrs Cummins spent 24 days.

The grandmother died in a hospice just two months after being diagnosed with a lung cancer that had been deemed treatable.

And Mrs Cummins's family claim that her appalling treatment in hospital contributed to her death.

And just what was the appalling treatment Mrs. Cummings received?

Those included her walking frame being moved out of reach so she fell out of bed, being unable to ring a bedside alarm for help because it was out of reach and being left on the floor for 15 minutes.

Her medical notes were also removed from her bed, a Do Not Resuscitate order was posted before it had been discussed with her family, and she was kept waiting for 12 hours for an ambulance dressed only in a nightie and no underwear when she was transferred between hospitals.

Her family also claim she was dropped from a hoist into a bath which caused her lung to collapse. The hospital denies this.

Leaving a 74 year old who is dependent on a walker for balance is something that would NEVER happen in US hospitals - as I saw with my own 72 year old walker dependent mother.  And if something like this happened in the US under the current system, the family would have legal recourse and a nice hefty cash settlement to go with it.  All Mrs. Cummings family got....

NHS bosses met the family privately this month to apologise, insisting they had put in place procedures to ensure the blunders were never repeated.

Ohh - an apology......well that makes it all better doesn't it?

When government runs health care, you can not sue them over their failures to provide adequate care.  And there rarely are second opinions in a SINGLE PAYER option run by government because government is the only health care option in town!

This is why so many Americans STILL want ObamaCare repealed!  The American people understand what Congress and the Administration refuse to admit - ObamaCare will cause Americans to be denied health care.  PERIOD.  That is not what the electorate wanted.  They wanted reform that would help people get better access to care - not lose it.