Its stupid because you still have the choice to get private healthcare if you prefer. So you can either wait for the public capacity, or pay your own way out of pocket / through insurance like in the states.

The other thing they gloss over is that it takes time here too. Unless you're going to the ER, you're often waiting months for an appointment.

I had to cancel a follow-up with my primary care doctor in September, and the next available time was this coming Monday.

A few years back, I needed a spinal injection to control my sciatica, my insurance company denied my pre-authorization, and I had to fight it. I eventually won 52 days after the initial request for the procedure, but they said I had to have the procedure within 60 days of the initial request. So the pre-auth expired and I had to go through the whole thing again. I spent nearly 4 months in so much pain I couldn't put on pants some days trying to get that fucking injection.

And to add to the fun, the injection started wearing off in the last week or so, so I'm gonna have to do the whole thing again.