Sinn Féin’s €1.1bn alternative health budget includes new 'sláintecard'
Sinn Féin Health spokesman David Cullinane said it is “time to get real” about specific problems impacting patients through three critical approaches. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos
Sinn Féin’s alternative health budget proposes a ‘sláintecard’ to bring together all discounts and packages so people know what they are entitled to receive.
The party is proposing €1.1 billion in new health measures for next year, including €657.7 million in current expenditure measures and an additional €461.6 million in capital or one-off spending.
Among the proposals is to condense entitlements and discounts into a transparent ‘Sláintecard’ system based on age and income, as part of a two-term-of-Government plan to expand universal coverage. The card would also give access to free contraception, with funding of €20m for widening existing age limits.
Health spokesman David Cullinane said it is “time to get real” about specific problems impacting patients through three critical approaches.
“The first is workforce planning. We are not going to be able to tackle the problems in the health services if we can’t recruit the staff and we can’t retain staff,” he said.
Suggested approaches include finishing contract negotiations for GPs and hospital doctors, as well as implementing the safe staffing framework for nurses.
The plans estimate if vacancies on the Children’s Disability Network Team were filled, more than 400,000 additional therapy hours could be delivered.
“The second piece is capacity, particularly in acute hospitals, because we need additional beds,” he said.
The party has allowed €223m for 500 additional inpatient beds by the end of 2023, with an increase in funding for 200 beds above the HSE’s current commitments and 40 inpatient specialist rehabilitation beds.
“We could go higher on beds but in reality how many can you deliver in a given year?" he said. “Three years ago the Government talked about 1,147 additional beds, that still hasn’t been delivered.”
The third plank is reducing costs for patients. This includes €47m to give 300,000 more people GP Visit Cards, starting with children aged up to 12.
A pot of €63.6m would see prescription charges abolished for medical card holders, and €15m in the first year targets abolishing hospital inpatient charges over two years.
“It would be quite substantial to have that card for an additional 300,000 people and we are saying that would have to be in tandem with increasing GP infrastructure,” Mr Cullinane said.
A further €2.5m would fund reductions to hospital car parking charges.
The Sinn Féin alternative Budget plans, launched today, were costed following consultation with the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, the Irish Medical Organisation’s pre-budget submission also focuses on negative impacts for patients arising from doctor shortages.
Dr Clive Kilgallen, IMO president said: “There is a direct correlation between the shockingly high waiting lists and the failure of the health services to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of doctors.”
Funding should include urgent construction of modular units to support hospital emergency departments, and boosted supports for community care.
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