State’s low healthcare rating ‘no surprise’
Fine Gael health spokesperson Dr Liam Twomey said he was not surprised at the finding that patient access to specialists was poor, given the shortage of consultants in Ireland. However, allowing direct access would cause our healthcare system to collapse, he said.
“We are not like France or Germany where they have a large number of consultants. If patients here had direct access, it would crash the system. We have 29,000 people waiting to see a specialist. At least, by going first to their GP, he can prioritise who needs urgent care.”
Deputy Labour Party leader and spokesperson on health Liz McManus said the survey, carried out by the European think-tank Health Consumer Powerhouse, was “a damning indictment of the health record of the FF/PD Government”.
The study, which included the 25 EU member states and Switzerland, found Irish patient waiting times are long and medical outcomes bleak. It also found a high level of infant deaths, poor penetration of the rate of uptake of the polio vaccine and a high number of MRSA infections in Irish hospitals.
The survey’s authors were also critical of the hospital consultants’ contract which allows public and private practice. This added to waiting times they said.
Ireland also fared badly in terms of patients’ rights, lacking a patients’ ombudsman.
Ms McManus said the findings — on top of an OECD report published this week which ranked Ireland fifth from the bottom out of 30 countries in terms of spend on health — highlighted “the serious lack of investment in what is one of the richest countries in the EU”.
“The reality is that only one country, Lithuania, scores worse on categories such as waiting times, patients’ rights and outcomes,” she said.
Irish Patients’ Association (IPA) spokesman Stephen McMahon said their area of concern was patient waiting times.
“While a huge amount has been achieved, particularly through the National Treatment Purchase Fund, clearly, in European terms, there is a lot to do.”
He said access to patient records was an area of particular concern.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said the report was fundamentally flawed and did not acknowledge huge improvements in waiting lists.
“In 2002, there was a five-year waiting list for common surgical procedures. In 2006, that’s down to five months,” he said.
He added that the report had also failed to acknowledge the huge drives to improve vaccination uptake rates; the fact the brief of the Irish Ombudsman covered the health service and the fact Irish patients have access to GP services on a same-day basis.
