OECD seeks reforms for 'very peculiar' healthcare system
Irish health system is 'idiosyncratic', the OECD report has found.
The Irish health system is "idiosyncratic" and "very peculiar" compared with other countries, a senior economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said, as its report urged the Government to press ahead with reforms.
Vincent Koen, an official at the OECD who helped write the latest report on Ireland, said that health outcomes for the Irish population have improved and compared "very favourably" with other countries.
The cutback in health spending has now been reversed and spending on the system which has increased in recent years now accounts for a fifth of all Government spending, Mr Koen said at the launch of the OECD report.
The report urges the Government to press ahead with its reforms proposed under the Sláintecare programme.
Moves away from a system based around providing healthcare through hospitals to primary care, community care, and long-term care is strongly backed by the report.
"Our report emphasises the need to restructure this system in line with Sláintecare's ambitions", Mr Koen said, after the reform plans under the programme were slowed by the Covid pandemic.
"The system here is very centralised and so one of the elements of Sláintecare is to have some decentralisation, in particular the creation of regional health areas," he said.
However, he said, making the most of those requires a funding model that is based on the actual needs of regional populations, with "improved data availability and governance, and notably by extending the use of digital tools" as Government used during the pandemic.
The report details "widespread inefficiencies" that have been made worse by the pandemic, failing the medical needs of low-income households and younger people.
The State pays for over 78% of healthcare funding, with the rest equally split between payments from patients and from private insurance.
It warns about a “de facto two-tiered” system in which private patients effectively jump waiting lists, warning that "attracting and retaining staff is a concern”.
The issues facing the health system after years of underinvestment are “slowly being corrected”, however.
"The Covid-19 crisis highlighted significant weaknesses in the public health system, affecting its resources as well as its organisation," according to the OECD.
The report says that "Ireland faces challenges to sustain growth and improve well-being over the longer term”.
“To wit, the country’s ambitions to overhaul the health system to improve quality of care and value for money, ensure affordable housing and achieve a just carbon transition.
"In each area, substantial public spending is potentially needed, and ensuring spending efficiency will be required,” it says.
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