I completely agree, actually. I'd forgotten how lousy the the ER is! Also, with my shoulder, I had the same experience - the public system sent me home with no treatment, and the private doctor operated immediately, saving me from a lifetime of limited mobility and a wonky posture!

Wetty made an interesting point after my trip to Westmead from turn 3. He said that it's vital to get yourself to hospital (a friend drive you or whatever), rather than be transported in the track ambo (which I was). Of course, not if you're dying or spurting arterial blood, but in every other case. Then, when you arrive, you have had a bicycle accident, NOT a motorcycle accident. This avoids the massively inferior 2nd class treatment, the snap judgement and lengthy lectures about the dangers of motorcycles. I wouldn't have believed it until I experienced it, and I tell ya that next time I will drag myself on my hands and knees to hospital, rather than be dealt with as a motorcyclist again!!