Coronavirus Thread (sponsored by Anthony Fauci & Pfizer) (Part 5)

That is beyond inexcusable

1 Like

Does that contradict what is said? We all know we pump a lot of money into the black hole to get what is a near third world service. What countries are in the top 5 for spending? Do they have universal care or have to pay private to get timely care? Do they have to pay to still avail of a lot of services?

I donā€™t know. Iā€™m sure 30 minutes searching on the oecd website should turn up those answers for you.

2 Likes

Prediction: Holohan will flex his muscles and decide he wants a lockdown before Christmas, likely just after MM has said there wont be one

3 Likes

It is but itā€™s how they operate and itā€™s constant. It appears to be a completely disfunctional department, and itā€™s not just due to the pandemic. A lot of what weā€™ve seen publicly, anecdotes from people working there and most contacts Iā€™ve had with it, suggests to me it is a basket case. If Robert Watt can raise the standards and professionalism of the department as a whole heā€™ll be worth every bob they broke all the rules to throw at him.

1 Like

We have to wait to see what the results from the measures weā€™ve just brought in are first. The next two weeks are crucial.

Googling facts mean nothing. You canā€™t prove anything with that.

In all fairness these are the questions that should be asked to nphet and the government not to make a point on the Internet.

Our mode of providing healthcare with the public/private divide/conjunction is the problem in my opinion. Years ago the idea was the private system would subsidise the public system. We should have broken with that and introduced a full public health system when we had the money. Instead weā€™ve poured more and more money into our public/private system which has become an increasingly disfunctional way to provide healthcare but itā€™s difficult to impossible to change because of the scale of the task. Landed on top of that is what appears to be terrible management throughout the system, further enabled because the government canā€™t very well deny emergency funding to health, ever, because people will die.

Our current result is a healthcare system that is both expensive and pretty poor. (We probably shouldnā€™t overstate how poor it is, itā€™s definitely bad, particularly for what we pay, but itā€™s not like every other country has cracked it either.)

Iā€™d say itā€™s unlikely that any of this changes significantly without a fairly radical shift to a full public healthcare system and moving private treatments out of public hospitals. Slaintecare was a step in that direction but weā€™ve seen how well that is going.

This is my very rudimentary understanding and opinion on health policy in Ireland.

3 Likes

Denis Oā€™Brien or Larry Goodman couldnā€™t profit off a public health system though.

1 Like

Thatā€™s an accurate summation on how I also feel our health system is. Highlighting the fact we need to break away from relying on the private system is not a new concept either, iirc this was a big issue used by both labour and fg in the GE campaign in 2011 (of Iā€™m correct it was the post bailout GE anyway). Both partys were promising universal healthcare and removing the need for the private system starting in 2014 on top of getting the country back on track financially. The only policy to come out of this was the free gp for under 5s (which is now increased to under 7s). I suspect they saw the black hole for money considering our obligations to the troike. FG have been in power for 10 years and have done nothing else to meet these promises.

As they saw the chickens have come home to roost woth a global pandemic, the health service is bare for all to see. FF started it by creating this system in the CT and FG failed to address it in their years in power, yet its the publics fault that a highly infectious disease is causing the medically vulnerable to overload an under capacity system. Throwing money at it wonā€™t fix it either put the wider society has to suffer with restrictions to protect the service that they have ignored to fix. We are lucky in the grand scheme of thing that covid relatively less deadly than other potential pandemics. But we would still have the same issues without covid and the evidence supports that. This is my major gripe with restrictions etc. Its not the fault of society but the fault of politicians and the hse. The only blame I will put on the public is voting these apes into power, sayimg that I expect SF to perform no different

1 Like

@glasagusban I took your advice and turned to gooand found a doozie

ā€œEnda Kenny has gone from a five-point plan in 2010 to pointless in 2015ā€ Enda Kenny has gone from a five-point plan in 2010 to pointless in 2015

A major issue is the awarding of highly-paid consultancies to specialists who have little or no interest in public health. Theyā€™ll punch in a few hours in a packed clinic between 9 and 11am and bugger off to their private practice for the rest of the day for between ā‚¬150-250 a pop.

Theyā€™ll farm out surgical and follow-up work to junior colleagues and vehemently resist any move to make their positions what they should be - public work paid for by the public.

6 Likes

In mediaeval Europe it was customary to send a signal by wearing sackcloth and ashes, now we close pubs and restaurants at midnight.
Thatā€™s the way itā€™s gone nowadays I suppose

There were no talk of lockdowns when the media were all over that Climate Change thing beyond in Glasgow.

5 Likes

Consultants seem to bear the brunt of criticism but how many of them are there? Obviously simultaneously getting paid from public purse while doing and getting paid for private work is bonkers but am wondering how material these costs are.

I agree we need to shift the focus back on the climate emergency. Today was the first frost of the winter. Last week of November. The evidence is clear. @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy will lead the charge like willium Wallace. CLIMATE!

1 Like

ā€œLet me stick it in you, or youā€™ll lose your job.ā€

The mandatory vaccination crew are sounding more like Harvey Weinstein by the day.

Totally. A mate of mine is a consultant in England, says he absolutely wouldnā€™t accept a public only contract. Money, prestige, research work, and Iā€™ve worked my way up to this level why should I get less than what was always there are the reasons. They can and do hold the system to ransom.

1 Like

Why are we providing public facilities and buildings for them to do private work? We shouldnā€™t.