Model for healthcare should not be sun, sea and an operation
Labour health spokesperson Duncan Smith has said it is deeply depressing that government is relying on outsourcing approximately 1,500 patients to Alicante each year rather than deal with the Irish health service once and for all.
Calling for a focus to be put on primary care treatment, Deputy Smith said people should expect to be able to receive treatment in their communities.
Deputy Smith said:
“The announcement of a health facility in Spain for public patients is really depressing. This simply can’t be the model of healthcare that we are aspiring to. Sun, sea and an operation. It is the stuff of bad sitcoms.
“In a modern society, we should place a much greater value on a system of healthcare that works for people. We should be focused on increasing our health capacity in Ireland, particularly in the area of primary care so that people can receive the care that they need in their community.
“While the EU cross border directive is helpful, it is not the way in which we should be paring down our crisis waiting lists. We have had six wasted years by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, with nothing done to tackle persistent and unrelenting issues within the service.
“There is no vision for community based primary care and moving treatment outside the acute hospital setting. We need to move to a model of preventative care in this country to stop people falling through the cracks in the health system or queueing in Dublin Airport to get hip replacements.”