Health plan would target waiting lists

DESPITE the best efforts of dedicated staff in Carlow-Kilkenny hospitals, many people are suffering and are in pain as they await critical tests and surgical procedures.

That was the 'sad message' of Senator John Paul Phelan at a Fine Gael public meeting on healthcare in Kilkenny, last night (Monday).

But, he said, Fine Gael's FairCare health plan incorporated the best elements of the world renowned Dutch and Northern Ireland health systems and would eliminate hospital waiting lists.
His party’s plans for special Service Delivery Units that rigorously managed waiting times and bed allocations in hospitals would signal an end to waiting times,inhumane suffering and pain for those languishing on growing waiting lists in the region.
Senator Phelan said waiting times for colonoscopies and audiological
assessment were of particular concern in the region. Latest available
data from the HSE on its own website showed that as of April of last
year, 87 adults were awaiting surgical procedures for up to three
months; 41 were waiting 6 to 12 months and eight were forced to wait
over a year for necessary surgery.
“In government, Fine Gael would deliver radical change across a number
of key areas, chief among them the health service”, he stressed.  “A modified version of the famous Dutch health system is the plan we will implement. It delivers universal health insurance for all. This means
that FairCare eliminates the two tier system of health that we have at
the moment and makes the patient the central focus of the health
service.
“We will deliver the plan in our first term in government and can
deliver it within existing budgets. In Holland they spend less per
head of population on their health service than we do but achieve
more. If it works for the Dutch, it can and will work for us.”

Fine Gael’s Health Spokesman, Dr James Reilly, TD, told the meeting
that under Fine Gael’s FairCare Plan every household would have access to free GP care.
“Ireland’s health system is now ranked 24th in Europe in value for
money”, he pointed out.  “We can do better. Fine Gael will give Ireland the health service that we deserve within five years. We will slash waiting lists
using the methods adopted successfully in Northern Ireland.
“We will introduce a ‘money-follows-the-patient’ budgeting system so
that hospitals are paid for how many patients they treat. Patients
will no longer be seen as ‘costs’ to the health service, but as a
valuable resource. This will transform the system back to a service.”