Government must stop dithering

It was once described by former Health Minister Mícheál Martin as the “cornerstone” of the health system, but the primary healthcare strategy is now languishing without proper funding or staffing a little over three years since it was launched.

It was expected to deliver networks of multi-disciplinary healthcare teams, which in turn would reduce the rate of A&E attendances and ultimately alleviate the demand on hospital beds.

As a concept it was excellent, but the reality is that it will fail dismally to achieve what was expected of it.