Reform needed: Two-tier health service

A new study confirms that Ireland’s two-tier health service means that individuals are less likely to get an early diagnosis for a serious illness like a brain tumour if they can’t pay for private diagnostics, when compared to other European countries with universal healthcare systems.

The TASC (Thinktank for Action on Social Change) health report shows that, on average, a patient in Ireland will wait up to 120 days longer for a brain MRI than a patient who accesses the scan privately.