Fórsa’s head of health Éamonn Donnelly has urged members to use the general election as an opportunity to push Irish healthcare reform up the political agenda.
 
He said the Sláintecare programme, which seeks to develop a single-tier system free at the point of need that provides quality healthcare, was not proceeding quickly enough, despite supposedly having cross-party support.

“When Sláintecare was launched in 2017, it was presented as a ten-year plan with unified cross-party support. However, we’re three years down the line and there’s been no real progress.
 
“The election is an opportunity for trade union members and other citizens to let every politician and their doorstep representatives know that they’ll only vote in the forthcoming general election for parties genuinely committed to delivering Sláintecare,” he said.
 
Although the initiative is universally supported on paper, Éamonn believes the reluctance to act stems from the need to totally reconstruct current practices.
 
“The traditional power bases of Irish healthcare provision, like consultants’ practices, the current GP model and private healthcare funding, will need to be completely transformed. But you just need to look at the number of patients on trolleys to see how badly we need a more holistic approach to healthcare provision,” he said.
 
Éamonn called for a developed model that combines health promotion, disease prevention and reduction, and primary care intervention. 

“This would allow hospitals to excel in the treatment of patients that require hospital treatment, free from the added stresses of overcrowding. It is paramount that we use this election as an opportunity to commit our politicians to finally implementing the healthcare system we deserve,” he said.