Fine Gael and Labour in €1.1bn health service pledge

The alternative government today vowed to plough a €1.1bn cash injection in to the health service if elected.

Fine Gael and Labour committed itself to providing 2,300 more acute beds in the state’s hospitals, and 1,500 long-term beds for patients.

The parties joint health strategy will target children’s health, preventative medicine, and involve serious reform of the way health services are managed.

Medical cards will be allocated to 40% of the population, they claimed, with free GP cards to all children under five years of age.

The Agreed Agenda on Reform and Investment in the Health Service, entitled Better Health, is the fourth chapter of the comprehensive Health Plan which the two parties are launching in advance of the general election.

“Waiting has become the word which our people now associate with the health service,” said Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

“MS sufferers wait years to see a neurologist, our children wait months to see an orthodontist, every day hundreds still wait on A&E trolleys, women across Ireland wait for cancer services promised in hoax plans and thousands wait for procedures and operations.

“It is time for the waiting to stop.

“Fine Gael and Labour are committed to building the health service that the Irish people deserve.

“We are committed to excellence in the quality of care, fair access on the basis of medical need, and efficient use of resources. We will achieve these goals through a combination of reform and investment, enhancing the quality of services and achieving better value for money.”

The leaders believe the key to cutting waiting times and responding to the needs of patients is by increasing the capacity in the health service.

The parties also want all children up to 16 years to have free medical insurance and health checks and screening before youngsters start primary and secondary school.

Measures will also include scrapping plans to build private hospitals on public land, recruiting 1,500 new consultants, training more doctors and the expansion of community support services for elderly people to live independent lives as far as is practicable.

“Ultimately, the solution to providing both a better and fairer health service is for the principle that the money follows the patient to apply across the health service,” added Labour leader Pat Rabbitte.

“These changes of themselves will contribute to a fairer and more efficient health service.”