Vested interests delaying health reform, says Cowen

FINANCE Minister Brian Cowen fired a broadside yesterday against GPs and other “vested interests” in the health service who were holding up reform.

There was a health strategy in place that could deliver real change, he told the Dáil Select Committee on Finance and Public Accounts, but it was “a matter for all the actors in the system” to implement that reform.

In particular, he rebuked the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) for deciding to boycott the new doctor-only medical card scheme.