Difference between private and public hospital

Check the other threads as I wrote a long reply about this to someone else some weeks ago, but in general public = busier, heavier patient load. Also higher pay, but you really work for it. Private generally are wealthier patients, better amenities and food, etc. Public has more interesting cases often and higher acuity, although some private hospitals specialize and get interesting cases.

Conditions in public hospitals are the same across the board - pay, penalties, ratios etc; private hospitals vary from site to site, but are not hugely different except that they do not have ratios. The much-cited 1:4 ratio, by the way, is only in class A (tertiary metropolitan) hospitals - smaller hospitals have a higher ratio of patients to nurses.

Public hospitals generally have more acutely ill, 'messy' and complicated patients, and are more likely to specialise. Private hospitals are more likely to have straightforward elective admissions, more patients per nurse, and pretty surroundings.

Public hospitals (large)

The Alfred - www.alfred.org.au (specialties - burns, HIV/AIDS, multitrauma, hyperbaric therapy, heart/lung translant, respiratory)

The Austin - http://www.armc.org.au/ (neurosciences, spinal injury, rehab, liver and bone marrow transplant)

The Mercy - (women's health, aged care, palliative care)

Royal Children's - www.rch.org.au

Royal Melbourne - www.mh.org.au/Royal_Melbourne_Hospital/ (infectious diseases, trauma, neuroscience)

The Royal Women's - http://www.rwh.org.au/rwh/index.cfm?doc_id=2256 (maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care)

Private hospitals (large)

Cabrini - www.cabrini.com.au/

St Vincents/Mercy - www.stvincentsmercy.com.au/

Epworth - www.epworth.org.au