I don't know what this retirement pundit is smoking

[harm_less]

..... ending privatisation of healthcare as swiftly as possilbe. That we're about to open out third charity hospital is something the entire country should be thoroughly ashamed of.

The reality is that those two provisions (private and public) provide freedom of choice for those that require healthcare. Having recently paid for a knee joint replacement done in a private hospital I'm all too aware that having this choice available allowed me to avoid years of pain, disability and potential expense in having to pay someone to undertake jobs that I would have been unable to do. It also mitigated the complexity of the procedure and shortened my recovery period. My doing so also resulted in one less person on a public waiting list delaying others who don't have the financial means to self fund from receiving surgery.

I'm hesitant to comment on "charity hospitals" because I struggle to be able to differentiate how they differ from our existing public health system.