This Government has reneged on its pledge to sort out hospitals

Opinion from the Irish Independent on 30 November 2015

Enda Kenny ran for election in 2007 pledging to “end the scandal of patients on trolleys”. By 2011, he was even more ambitious, promising that “the two-tier system of unequal access to hospital care will end”.

Universal healthcare was promised but has not been delivered

Analysis from Irish Independent on 21 September 2015

An essential element of this Government’s 2011 promise of a ‘democratic revolution’ was a ‘universal single-tiered health service, which guarantees access based on need, not income’. It committed to do this through universal primary care and universal health insurance.

HSE and HIQA must ensure it’s safe to give birth in all Irish maternity units

Op ed from the Irish Independent on 31 March 2015 on the ugly spat between HIQA and the HSE 

Varadkar should do the right thing and abolish prescription charges

See below analysis from Irish Independent on 19 September 2014

Leo Varadkar has prioritised getting a realistic budget for health as number one of 10 priorities he wants to achieve within the next 18 months. All 10 priorities make good sense, some of them might even be delivered in the tight timeframe envisaged.

To lose one minister may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness

See here analysis from Irish Independent from 14 May 2014

Pie in the sky for UHI?

See below my column for the Medical Independent from 3 April 2014 where I question whether Minister Reilly’s big idea of Universal Health Insurance will ever actually happen. 

Cuts threaten patient safety

Fewer nurses caring for more patients increases likelihood of death, see here for column from Medical Independent from 21 March 2014. 

A speech not of ‘national importance’

Reductions in waiting lists achieved by throwing resources at the problem is not a sustainable solution. Here is my Medical Independent column from 20 February 2014. 

An insurance reform roadmap

If implemented, the recommendations of the report into the cost of private health insurance would make a difference to the Minister’s plans for universal care. Column from Medical Independent on 23 January 2014.

Hospitals at the edge…

The CEOs of four Dublin hospitals made valid points about health cuts but went about it the wrong way. See column from 21 November 2013.