Philosophising Cork doctor motivated by a belief in universal healthcare

FIANNA FÁIL local election candidate John Sheehan quotes German physiologist Rudolph Virchow as a hook to hang his political ambitions on — “Politics is nothing more than medicine on a grand scale”.

If this is true, his GP training will stand him in good stead should he be elected to Cork City Council, representing the ward of Cork North West.

With a practice in Blackpool, Cork city, Dr Sheehan believes his medical background will help when it comes to debating issues such as reconfiguration of hospital services.

“I was involved in the acute hospitals planning forum five or six years ago. I have seen what’s proposed in the current reconfiguration project and some of it is good, but I don’t see how Cork University Hospital (CUH) can physically cope with all acute care and with all cancer care,” Dr Sheehan said.

“I know people have a lot of concerns about losing local health services and some are valid, but a lot of the worry could be avoided if things were properly explained. They’re the kind of things that motivate me to get involved,” Dr Sheehan said.

Dr Sheehan got his campaign off to a controversial start by hanging election posters 48 hours ahead of the official deadline. He was instructed to take them down, but was not fined for jumping the gun. “I got off with a warning. It wasn’t intentional. I’m not a sitting councillor so I wasn’t aware of the deadline. I took them down immediately, and re-hung them at the appropriate time,” Dr Sheehan said.

He has very definite views on changes that need to be made to the health service. He believes the plan to co-locate public and private hospitals should be abandoned as a policy straight away. He believes Ireland would benefit from introducing universal health insurance which would abolish the public/private divide.

“Patients in Ireland worry if they will get the proper care and attention that they need when they are sick. In my own practice in Blackpool I am often asked ‘Should I go public or private?’ In most other countries this question does not arise. The notion of two systems existing in parallel does not make sense in any analysis.

“I frequently deal with patients who are waiting two years on a public waiting list only for them to be told they could be seen straight away if they went privately. This is unacceptable and places an unnecessary worry and strain on patients and their families.”

Whether a city councillor will have any power to effect the type of change Dr Sheehan envisages is a moot point.

But Dr Sheehan is no novice when it comes to the machinations of politics — he was director of elections for Fianna Fáil Cork North Central in the 2007 General Election during which the two FF sitting TDs retained their seats, albeit with an almost 6% drop in the combined party vote since the previous general election.