Harney urged to look to Sweden for health reform model

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney was yesterday urged to look to Sweden for a model on which to reform healthcare in this country.

Dr Ed Walsh, a former director of Bons Secours Hospitals, said the Swedish health service suffered the same defects that are manifest in Ireland’s health system.

Dr Walsh said: “In Sweden in the early 1990s they had the same problems we have of escalating costs, patient dissatisfaction and huge waiting lists.”