What a fine Christian gesture it was for those persons holding high office to arrange for a medico setting up in private practice to receive a computer and other equipment out of the public purse . Ran into thousands of dollars . Wonder if the doctor charged his patients a wee bit less due to the largesse ?
Another wondrous medical saga relates to the strange dealings with x-rays. In the first instance , a woman had a breast x-ray at the Royal Darwin Private Hospital , was told it found nothing of concern , and received a letter asking if she wanted the x-ray plate ; yes . The very next day she called at the hospital and after a considerable wait, was informed the x-ray could not be found , that it had probably been thrown away or lost . In any case, she was informed x-rays were normally only kept for 30 days . Why ? Is this due to lack of space ? How does it stack up with the standard practice nationwide? These and other questions need answers.
In the second episode , a GP , discussing pains in the chest of a person who had received a by-pass years ago at an interstate hospital, suggested it might be good if he could go back to the hospital that did the operation because it would have the old x-rays . An x-ray carried out here in Darwin had revealed nothing . How x-rays years old, if still kept at an interstate hospital , could be of any benefit is puzzling.
The third x-ray event involved a visit to the oddly decorated waiting room at the Casuarina Imaging Centre . Waiting to be called, a man leafed through the bundle of dog-eared nondescript magazines in the waiting room and was surprised to find a copy of Gideon’s Bible . An elderly man came to reception and said he had just come from the private hospital where they had tried to charge him $260 for an x-ray , but he was a pensioner and could not pay.
