When I had an ulcer, I called an ambulance at 3am because the pain was so bad I could hardly breath

The ambo driver didn't want to take me to the hospital and said it was probably just heartburn, but after I insisted they took me... He even made a joke that I must have been fine because I brought a battery pack and people who are having "true emergencies" don't think of those things

At emergency, they kept insisting it was heartburn despite me telling them I know what heartburn feels like

They gave me medicine for heartburn that made the pain so much worse... It was only at that point when I was literally screaming in agony that they decided they better actually investigate

Half hour later I was on a helicopter to Sydney for surgery

They wasted well over an hour telling me I just had heartburn before they even decided to start investigating it.

I can only imagine the pain this poor man went through at home after the drs Palmed him off

That checks out. I’ve had some really bad experiences seeking help.

Denial of care and misdiagnosis seems really common in an underfunded and overstretched public healthcare system and compassion fatigue seems rife.

Australia is also a systemically racist country where indigenous people are denied access or receive substandard healthcare - which can be due to such assumptions.