[danaris]

Here in the USA, my wife had an infection in the root of a tooth (long story), and was trying to get in to see an oral surgeon to get proper treatment.

Even with an active infection, that could have cost her her jaw or her life if it had been left unchecked, it took months to get anyone to even make an appointment for an initial consultation. We were very fortunate that the oral surgeon we were finally able to talk to was able to fit her in for surgery within a short time after that, due to a cancellation.

People talk dismissively about the "long wait times" you get with some public healthcare systems, but always oh-so-conveniently ignore the fact that there are long wait times here too. Sometimes catastrophically so.

Almost universally, when you dig into it, the "long wait times" that exist in those systems fall into one of two categories: either they are wait times for elective procedures, where your long-term health is not at risk, or they are caused by shortages that are symptoms of unrelated problems.