South east stand off symptomatic of public private mix

On Thursday’s Morning Ireland programme, there was a very public stand-off between the HSE and Whitfield Cancer Centre (run by UPMC) in a row over radiotherapy services in the south east. UPMC threatened to withdraw radiotherapy services for cancer patients in the South East from 1 May next. This spat was a very public manifestation of the mess that is Ireland’s public and private mix of healthcare. In a statement issued later  in the day, both sides said they were back in discussions with the hope of “resolving outstanding contractual issues”. So what was this all about?