Greens pledge to introduce 2,000 new acute beds

The Green Party today pledged to deliver 2,000 extra acute beds in its first five years if elected to Government on May 24.

Speaking at the launch of Party's policy document on hospitals and funding this morning, health spokesperson John Gormley TD said that the Green Party would also stop Minister for Health Mary Harney's “co-location” plans to build private hospitals on public land.

“There are very few people on the front lines of medicine who advocate co-location,” he said. “Indeed, many respected health experts have described the idea as 'cloud cuckoo land'.

“If we want to improve our public health service then we must invest in public beds, not private, for-profit hospitals, which will undoubtedly cherry-pick the least-complicated and most profitable procedures, leaving the most difficult tasks to public hospitals.

“This move will also result in higher premiums for the privately insured. If insurance costs continue to rise, then more people will be forced back into a seriously depleted public system.

“The Green Party is making it very clear today that we will scrap these plans. It would appear from some reports that there is also little enthusiasm in some quarters of the HSE for this hair-brained scheme.

Gormley went on to accuse the Government of abandoning its own policies.

“The Green Party is committed to implementing the 2001 health strategy, which the FF-PD Government has totally abandoned,” he said.

“We will invest in 400 acute beds per annum, over a seven-year period. We will do the same in relation to step-down beds.

“This target allows for the improvement of bed capacity on a phased and planned basis, taking into account fluctuations in population. The main point in relation to bed capacity is that there has been a 25% reduction in beds since the 1980s, in startling contrast to the 25% increase in population.

"The Green Party has already published a comprehensive document on primary healthcare. In our first term in office we would like to introduce free primary healthcare for the under-sixes. It is our aim to phase in free access to primary healthcare for all citizens over a 10-year period.

The Green Party also stated its belief that the recent unease surrounding the issue of health insurance is a product of an inadequate public health system.

“About 53% of our population has private health insurance and the Green Party believes that community rating and risk equalisation are the fairest ways to ensure equality of treatment for those taking out insurance,” said Gormley.

“It is clear, however, that increasing numbers of people are turning to health insurance because they lack confidence in our public health system.

“If we are to begin to tackle the two-tiered health system we must start investing in crucial elements of the public health service. It should be noted that A&E units do not distinguish between public and private and that, similarly, over 73% of people in our public hospitals, whether they be private or insured, come through A&E.

Gormley concluded by pledging to increase the number of public health consultants.

“We are committed to providing an extra consultants for the public health service,” he said.

“But it is clear that money is not the only impediment to achieving a satisfactory resolution to the ongoing dispute with consultants.

“Many consultants who are committed to delivering a top-class public health service have stated that the contract, as advertised, lacks sufficient administration time. These issues cannot be ignored, and indeed, should have been resolved years ago.

"We also believe that greater efficiencies can be introduced into the system in relation to types of payment and that the HSE must become more accountable.”