Health reform requires a new political approach

WHAT type of health service do we really want?

Do we want a largely privatised service and the preservation of a two-tier system with an increasing dependence on insurance along the lines of the inequitable American model.

Or do we want a service that will deliver quality care to people regardless of income. The latter, in my opinion, is the obvious choice if we still retain any hopes of a just society.

It’s a question we must answer because it will affect the quality of all our lives in the years ahead.

If a member of your family was lying on a trolley in a hospital corridor tonight, instead of in a ward where he or she belongs, how important a weapon against such an injustice would you consider your vote to be the next time you enter a polling station?

We no longer need public representatives who simply service bureaucracy and maintain the status quo — we need leaders who will bring about fundamental change.

Darren O’Keeffe

44 Leesdale

Model Farm Road

Cork