Multi-tier system should be dismantled

OUR mental health services urgently require upgrading.

The number of people taking their own lives is much greater annually than those who lose their lives in traffic accidents.

Yet road safety gets far more attention and resources than suicide prevention. This is a slur on all of us in public life. People and their health must always come first. Taoiseach-designate Brian Cowen should call a national forum on the health services as one of his priorities. A multi-tier health service segregates rich from poor for urgent attention and best services. This is divisive and unacceptable. There is a growing belief among senior citizens that ageism is a factor in some sectors of the medical profession when hospital treatment is required.