Letters to the Editor: Sláintecare embeds inequitable access to hospital care
'Research has shown that Ireland has one of the most inequitable hospital care systems in the OECD, and voluntary private health insurance was found to be the largest contributor to that inequity.'
Government formation is in process, and all parties are signed up to the implementation of the Sláintecare plan of 2017. One of its key principles is equitable access to healthcare.
Research has shown that Ireland has one of the most inequitable hospital care systems in the OECD, and voluntary private health insurance was found to be the largest contributor to that inequity — a fact not referred to in Sláintecare.
Róisín Shortall, the chair of the Oireachtas committee that developed the plan, said in a radio interview in 2017 that there would be such a good public hospital service after implementation of the plan that only 20% of the population would need to purchase private health insurance.
After nearly eight years of the 10-year plan, 47% of the population continue to have private health insurance.
Through the acceptance of funding of private hospital care by private insurance in the Sláintecare plan, all political parties have ensured there will be quicker access to private hospital care and insurer’s clinics, such as VHI’s 360 health centres or Laya’s health and wellbeing clinics, than that afforded to non-insured patients to public hospital care.
The two-tier system between private and public hospitals will flourish as manifested, for example, in the recently announced €500m investment by the Larry Goodman Trust at the Blackrock Health Hospitals in Dublin, Galway, and Limerick.
I have just retired after 33 years as a hospital consultant and a period in political activism campaigning for a health system that treated patients as patients and not as private or public.
I deplore the fact that our political system and its Sláintecare plan will ensure that this wealthy country will have embedded in its system in 2025, and for the foreseeable future, inequitable access to hospital care funded by private health insurance.
The excavations of the burial site at the Tuam mother and baby home is such a necessary thing to do.
It carries such emotional weight and gravitas for us as a people. It is part of our long, troubled, and sometimes tragic history.
The need for the events that led to this sad part of our collective lives has to be uncovered and put into context, not to be glossed over, hidden, or forgotten.
Afterwards, it needs a national day of mourning and grieving.
In the long-term, a monument within the existing walls of the remembrance area has to be erected as a lasting tribute and celebration of liberation from the belief systems and culture that gave rise to this and other horrors in our past.
On Monday, your newspaper built its lead story around an investigation by education correspondent Jess Casey into
the prevalence of AI software which is targeted at second level students — ‘AI does students’ work within seconds’ (Irish Examiner, January 13).
Ostensibly, this AI software can complete homework assignments in seconds. Many of these apps are widely available on social media, and some of them advertise their services as being undetectable.
I fully concur with the Mallow-based secondary school teacher, Patrick Hickey, who is an expert in AI in which he proffers sagacious advice with regard to the planned reform of the Leaving Cert curriculum being paused so as to address the challenges which AI poses to our education system.
It’s my contention that this problem isn’t insoluble. I believe educators must be willing to rethink and adapt their teaching to this new reality. In the final analysis, this problem can be solved — but doing so will require fresh thinking in some disciplines. I find that the biggest problem in our educational system is the glacial pace at which the Department of Education moves. It was nearly 30 years ago when the American scholar Eli Noam published a very perceptive article about future modern technologies infiltrating our educational system. In recent years, we have been continually hearing about AI software being targeted at students and it seems to me that the response from the Department of Education elites is something akin to blank stares.
It could be argued that we are in an extremely precarious and urgent situation with the challenge of AI and its educational impact, which I believe compels immediate action from the powers that be.
More and more rugby supporters are becoming really annoyed at the IRFU top management constantly “tipping the scales” in favour of Leinster Rugby. Many independent rugby commentators have expressed their concern at the ongoing situation of Leinster being favoured with up to 10 central IRFU contracts, compared with (if lucky) one such central contract each for the other three provinces. Clearly it is now even becoming risky for players with local only contracts to dare to question such unfairness in public, as they risk being “sent to Siberia” for “re-education” and further measures.
If you want a central contract, then be prepared to move to Leinster Rugby.
In 1995/6, Manchester United took to the field for some away matches wearing grey jerseys. At half time against Southampton, quite late in the season, it was apparent that something was wrong — passes were going astray. The players told the manager that they couldn’t see each other.
They wore a different kit for the second half and played much better. Immediately, the grey kit was “retired”.
In your article — ‘Gutsy Munster travel to ‘lethal’ Northampton with Champions Cup hopes still alive’ (Irish Examiner, online, January 13) — there is a photo of John Hodnett scoring a try. Have a close look at his red helmet and his pinkish-greyish kit. Were it a foggy day, the players would be invisible.
Don’t expect Munster to win much in that grey kit.
I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed Christmas, the season of goodwill, etc, disappear as abruptly and completely in my entire 70-plus festive seasons.
From the great democracy across the Atlantic came the menacing threats of Donald Trump on acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal, on assimilating Canada into the United States as its 51st state, and on relieving Mexico of it’s gulf.
Ringing out at home — morning, noon, and night — was the constant toll of dire warnings pertaining to a mammoth and it’s itinerant tusks of black ice and amber hewn drifts of snow, bearing chill factors that could instantly refrigerate a body for preservation until an Easter burial.
Engulfed in this tumult, my dilemma in the past week boiled down to whether I should stay or emigrate to Greenland. From a weather point of view, I couldn’t possibly be any worse off — but, in terms of Trump’s plans, I could be seriously endangering my survival. Or maybe not, isn’t Trump coming after us here too?
My next letter to the editor may well have a Greenland address.
Last Monday, around 100 people protested at City Hall in Galway over the upcoming closure of the local Pálás cinema.
During the protest they entered the building and the meeting of city councillors had to be temporarily adjourned while the protestors chanted, banged drums, and generally made a nuisance of themselves.
I can’t see how their behaviour would have endeared them to the city councillors who ultimately will decide the future of Pálás which is owned by Galway City Council.
The statistics for Pálás, which according to its website is a “three screen arthouse cinema and cultural space in the Unesco city of film — Galway”, are pretty grim: €8.4m of public money was spent in the construction of the building; the original company which ran the cinema, Solas — Galway Picture Palace, went into liquidation in 2017; in 2018, Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin took over the running of the cinema.
Lighthouse Cinema invested €1.5m into the cinema at the time.
They have lost €1.8m since this original investment, and the cinema is currently operating at a loss of roughly €250,000 per annum.
Who can blame them for pulling the plug?
At the time of writing, I checked the advertised listings for Tuesday night and Saturday night of this week for example. Every single film advertised is available in the Omniplex in Salthill. How can this be described as an arthouse cinema? Its not even doing what it was set up to do.
Lighthouse Cinema, who took over the running of the cinema in 2018, obviously thought they could make a profit on their investment but this has not turned out to be the case.
It is obvious the people of Galway haven’t supported it in sufficient numbers.
In my own case, I have the Omni-pass with the Omniplex in Salthill since July 2021, and have seen approximately 175 films in that venue since. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been in the Pálás in the last seven years.
It is ludicrous to put any more public money into what I believe was a white elephant from day one.
An arthouse cinema is fine and dandy in theory, but Galway simply isn’t big enough to cater for this minority taste.
