I've noticed there are plenty of issues about healthcare, but not so many about ambulances- and the few issues that do mention them are usually proposing privatization or a fix to accidentally banning ambulances along with other cars. Hoping this issue starts to plug a couple holes, I think there's room for other topics (i.e. response times of ambulances).
Fifth draft,
Renamed the issue so that the name of the issue does not include the word “issue”,
Reworded part of option 4.
Emergency Department Problems Ramping Up
Validity: Has universal health care policy, has automobiles, has capitalism.
The Issue: Emergency departments in @@NAME@@ are facing ever increasing demand, and ambulances with waiting patients are forced to queue until a bed is available. After a five hour wait caused a preventable death, your staff organised for you to visit a hospital yourself to try and diagnose the cause of the delays.
Option 1: Upon getting out of the car, you're immediately approached by @@RANDOMNAME@@, a driver next to a line of ambulances. "If you're here about that fatality, I can tell you right now that I've personally queued for a lot longer than five hours before. There's a dozen ambulances here and someone waiting in the back of all of them, and that means there's a dozen ambulance crews that can't save lives until there's space here to free us up again. I don't see how the hospital system can realistically cope without drastic expansion to emergency departments all over @@NAME@@."
Effect: sneezing too many times in a minute triggers an automatic doctors referral
Option 2: "There wouldn't be anything like the current delay for assistance if you let ED staff actually do our jobs properly", moans @@RANDOMNAME@@, an exhausted looking doctor slumped against the wall near the entrance. "Frankly, many of the people waiting for treatment don't have anything particularly serious. There's the occasional hypochondriac, but plenty of people who just have a sniffle. Hospital care needs to be saved for people who actually need to stay in a hospital. Can't we just tell people with minor issues to go somewhere else?"
Effect: public hospital staff roll their eyes at anything less than a heart attack
Option 3: "But you can't just turn me away! I can't go anywhere else!", shrieks @@RANDOMNAME@@, an elderly woman in the waiting area. "I'd absolutely visit a GP, but I'm retired, and it costs a ridiculous amount of @@CURRENCY@@ to speak to anyone other than the receptionist! This is the only place that won't demand payment up front. Surely you cover the fees at the private clinics for vulnerable people? It's not as if I like sitting here all day either!"
Effect: the fastest way to see a doctor is to quit your job and claim unemployment benefits
Option 4: Upon returning to your car, there's a call waiting for you from @@RANDOMNAME@@, a medical insurance executive with an eye for opportunity. "I know not everyone is keen on privatising any part of the system, especially hospitals, but it's a waste of our capabilities if we’re largely relegated to providing bundled healthcare coverage for the pre-existing government hospital network. There's no reason why we shouldn't be allowed to operate our own emergency departments for anyone willing to pay. It’s the simplest and cheapest solution- for the government, at least. Don’t overthink it.”
Effect: the first step in medical triage is determining the insurance details of the patient