Visiting the magnificent Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, my elderly dad resolutely navigated the steep stairs as I held my breath. My mother, less mobile and more wary, stayed at ground level but the 12th-century ground wasn’t exactly smooth. All I could think was “falls risk”, which casually led me to ask our guide what the local hospital system was like. This invited a lament about the long waits, the cost of care and poor outcomes.
Someone else explained that in South Korea, her wealthy country with universal healthcare, paramedics must call dozens of hospitals to seek permission to offload patients. A woman hit by a truck died after the ambulance could not find any of 30 hospitals to accept her.
