Parents of four-year-old cancer patient pursued by hospital's debt collector

The parents of a four-year-old cancer patient who was turned down for a medical card are being pursued by a hospital debt collector for almost €1,000 in care-related bills.

Campaign group Our Children’s Health revealed the situation as it claimed there has been “zero progress” in addressing the medical cards scandal since government plans to solve the crisis were launched last November.

However, Health Minister Leo Varadkar rejected the inaction accusation last night, saying the number of discretionary medical cards has risen from 50,294 to 76,000 since last summer and key reform appointments will be made today.