# 177

Posted: 19/11/2009 14:28

Just to set the record straight, I would earn an equivalent salary in the public dental service in the UK as I earn here. I would, however, receive a subsidy to attend clinical updates which is compulsory in the UK and will be so here next year, I have to pay for my own here. In the UK free education is exactly that, and healthcare costs are reasonable, an important factor when one has a family to support, so financially speaking many of my colleagues would be better off in the UK than working here on so-called high wages. The situation is similar in much of europe. The so called Brain Drain will become a reality again, just as it was in previous decades.

# 176

Posted: 18/11/2009 14:41

brandy, it's 3% of people on THIS discussion only!  Mary Harney's admirers are not likely to be on this thread as the discussion is so manifestly unbalanced. 

In obsessing about Harney's "poor" performance no-one addresses the real poor performance, namely the question of the lifestyle and societal aspects of our own collective ill-health as a nation.  If this was addressed the vast money that goes into the Health service would bear fruit and there would be a much higher approval rating than 3%.  Jedward gets a high performance rating on x-factor but what does that prove?

three kinds of disciples, those who impart Zen; those who tend the altars & temples; those who are the rice-bags & clothes-hangers

# 175

Posted: 17/11/2009 21:49

"Sceptical" misses my point. GPs are not threatening to leave the country when their fees are cut in the budget. What we are worrying about is that the patient centred focus that we presently have may be subsumed into a civil service type mentality with the focus on saving money and ticking boxes as in the UK system.

If "Anonymous" wants a 24 hour a day GP, he or she, (but I suspect he) should think upon the fact that over 30% of Irish GPs are now female and they need family time. If he accepts this, then is is he saying that male GPs should not also enjoy time off with their families? What he says about out of hours services simply referring onto Casualty departments simple isn't true as a cursory examination of their annual reports will testify. If he wants to send female (or male) GPs into the night with a bag full of drugs on a saturday night and no one with them he is harking back to a golden age that no longer exists. He also forgets that the locums employed by some doctors for the night shifts are paid for by those doctors. Anyone is entitles to their predudices no matter how wide of the mark but the only patient I know who had a 24 hour Dr on tap was Michael Jackson and it didn't do him a whole lot of good. GP still has the highest satisfaction rating of any part of the health service and a better one than any other profession.

# 174

Posted: 17/11/2009 20:37

Sceptical, Errick, ann, leen, Ruby, anony et al et al,

Agree with all....and anony...very apt re the brain-drain!

Just wondering.......46% seem to think we're wrong....and...apparently 3% have deluded themselves completely; is it not strange that those in the minority have 'voted' in favour of Harney's tenure....yet find it so difficult to defend the same in public here??  Very strange indeed !!

# 173

Posted: 16/11/2009 15:33

Mary Harney has practically destroyed the health service. There is no other way to describe it. I work in it, in the school dental service which incidently doesn't distinguish [yet] between private and public patients. When I started in the mid 1980's, I had great hopes for the future of public dental health in Ireland, I looked forward to working towards the development of improved services. The reality, 25 years later, is that the access to our service has become more difficult, many areas within the country have no dental cover at all, operator/patient ratios have worsened due to a failure to increase the number of dental teams despite a significant increase in population and this is all despite the best endeavours of staff. I would leave the country tomorrow if I could, for years l was told that l was a fool not to be working within the private sector, these people are now telling me l'm on the pig's back in the public sector and want to massacre what pension rites l have EARNED over those 25 years. Talk about a Career wasted. I would advise any Irish health care worker qualifying in the next few years to leave as fast as they can and stay there. You've a lot to answer for Ms Harney. 

# 172

Posted: 16/11/2009 12:44

Why is it that when there is a 'Brain Drain' in this country none of our politicians emigrate?

# 171

Posted: 13/11/2009 18:38

Not too sure what she had to do with the health service.  Thought Drumm was the one who collects the bonus. Between them the waste of money in the health service is beyond belief. Do people realize there are crutches, wheelchairs, commodes, zimmer frames and other costly equipment lying in sheds around Ireland.  People have tried to return all of those items when their realatives passed away but hospitals refused to accept them. Anyone listening to the Joe Duffy show on Monday will know this is true. Isn't it incredible that if you are an inpatient in any hospital you'll have to share all of those items with other patients and sometimes they are not washed between patients. What a waste.

# 170

Posted: 13/11/2009 18:12

I think you've missed the point Admiral. This alarmist threat - "at your peril" - is on a par with the Establishment, warning the lowest paid that the highest paid will depart (brain-drain) if they are asked to pay tax relative to income. Will GPs also up and leave if the health system is reformed to the benefit of the people?

I'm afraid those days are over - over right across the board! Nobody in Europe, Australia, UK or America pays the inflated salaries hyped by a succession of incompetent, self-interested and economically illiterate FF governments.

For example, NO 'top' civil servant, government minister, or COE of semi-state bodies, in the whole western hemisphere earns a salary comparable with those pocketed by the Irish. None of those countries want Irish 'high flyers'. These were supposed to be an educated elite. They have proved themselves selfish, money-mad, complacent fools. 

Apart, of course, from the bankers and Galway tent cronies; they are proving themselves as omnipotent and cunning - and powerful over government - as they ever were. The taxpayer is bailing out the most corrupt government and bank elite in Europe.

# 169

Posted: 13/11/2009 18:01

Harney's 'record' is becoming increasingly irrelevant....to her....and should be increasingly relevant to the tax-payer !  When she retires from 'public-service' .....for example next year.....does any one know what her net income will be??  Never mind rating her as Health-Minister so much....let's focus on exactly what she'll be having in her bank account every week when she 'retires' (next year) from so-called public-service !!  Any number crunchers out there got figures on this ??

When we know the above....then we can truly ask.....was she worth it ??

# 168

Posted: 13/11/2009 14:14

That is interesting Admiral. I have not come across any GP's surgery in Ireland which is open 24 X 7. Oh yes, there is WestDoc / CareDoc - which get back to you and triage you but they inevitably send you to casualty anyway. Interesting too that you would say it's the only branch of the health service that does not, and is not allowed to, differentiate between private and public patients - givenm that I have come across doctors refusing to take appointments for certain patients but when told they no longer have a medical card it is a different story - also with unwillingness to attend base don the same premise and GPs havign certain days and times only which facilitate medical card patients. Aand yes, you can be aitign several days for a GP appointment. I would nit want to see it destroyed but certainly reformed.

# 167

Posted: 12/11/2009 21:49

If General Practice was the uninterested private business that some of your contributors suggest, it would not be looking after the poorest and most disadvantaged in society 24 /7. General Practice in Ireland looks after 95% of all reported illnesses, refering only 5% on to hospitals. It is the only branch of the health service that does not, and is not allowed to, differentiate between private and public patients. It is also the only branch of the health sevice that measures its waiting times in hours rather than months.

Destroy it at your peril!

# 166

Posted: 12/11/2009 21:31

Of course there are many issues which revolve around the dire performance of Mary Harney. Anne is correct to highlight the single contribution made by Micheal Martin.

But consider this. I recently looked at the news website of the hospital both my wife and myself trained in all those years ago - to see the announcement that 132 Irish trained nurses would shortly be commencing work at Whipps Cross hospital in east London. The e-news item read "Patients at Whipps Cross will soon be recieving treatment from 132 nurses trained in the Emerald Isle thanks to an overseas recruitment drive........... The Trust turned to countries such as Ireland as it currently had an excess of staff unable to find work." 30 of these newly qualified nurses will be from the training school at NUI Galway.

So, after 4 years spent working hard to earn their degrees, our nurses will take their experience to work in other countries. Meanwhile HSE hospitals here are still employing agency staff from abroad which is much more expensive surely?

I wonder at what cost to the HSE is this happening?

I do appreciate that this is not new. After all my own wife had to leave - 35 years ago to go get her training in the UK. But the scale of losses of our best and brightest now is immense, and is gathering pace.

# 165

Posted: 12/11/2009 10:31

I agree 100% with Errick the Driver, but there's one person everyone is failing to mention as if he had nothing to do with the appaling health service in this country and that is Michael Martin, the failed ex health minister.

That was when the rot set in, his energies were directed at covering up the nursing home scandal, he spent 20million on reports, did nothing to improve our health service or lift the suffering at a time when Ireland was awash with money, only to implement a draconian smoking ban by using junk science statistics supplied by big pharma, that ended up in the closure of over a thousand pubs and put thousands out of work, and that left thousands of people socially excluded and broke up a social culture.

Of course he had the backing of the EU for this and unfortunately the people he was elected to represent had little or no say.

His only ability as far as I'm concerned, is the value to his party in his terrior like debating manner.

# 164

Posted: 10/11/2009 21:22

I am rather late getting involved in this debate over Mary Harneys performance. As a resident of Galway for over 30 years I well remember how things were in 1979 when I first arrived, I came from the UK, where the NHS worked quite well.

 I left before Margaret Thatcher strarted to interfere with it. Much like Mary Harney has, she destroyed all confidence in the service in her conviction that private medicine works. It dosn't. It just assists those who have money to jump the queue and forces all those who might best be called middle class, in our classless society, to join in and subscribe to costly health insurance. Even though most of us will struggle to pay out of fear.

We see that Barack has his problems in the USofA in getting Healthcare reform. But Mary Harney, though she espouses American values, has virtually destroyed the public healthcare system in Ireland and has absolutely failed to reform in the public interest - but in the interest of privatiers. Her setting up of the HSE did not achieve reform in any positive fashion, but merely allowed her distance herself and her Department from the problems. She can now turn around and blame Drumm for all the countries ills (sorry for that one).

And, as for giving tax concessions to medical entreprenuers, dont' make me cry. WE are all paying through the nose for that one.

She should go. She has no mandate, her former party was destroyed because of her poor leadership.

# 163

Posted: 10/11/2009 20:48

sceptical,

Haven't found anything in your last post....that many could disagree with....well said!  Comparing here to Cuba is not too much of a tangent either....I seem to remember hearing someone on the radio a few weeks ago lauding Cuba's system....despite their adversity.  Is it not correct that they are more advanced than many '1st' world countries regarding distribution of some vaccines etc?

The comparison is all the more appropriate if we could get the figures on Harney's wage...compared to any counterpart in Cuba...don't you think?   Thanks again.

# 162

Posted: 10/11/2009 15:45

On that I agree sceptical, conferneces and talks and reports and commitees and sub-commitees, but what so they ever achieve? And of course, cancer patients, cystic fibrosis patients and children waiting for heart operations is a shameful indictment of our system and more disasterous still if it were to model the U.S. system.

# 161

Posted: 08/11/2009 20:14

Apologies to all those who would prefer to focus on their own problems. It is the perenial Irish problem ... talk. Mary Harney talks all the time; Mary Harney, supported by her colleagues in FF, has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers money 'talking' at dozens of conferences in the good ole US of A.

What results have we had? More talk... more reports .... more promises and grand plans all gathering dust. More REALITY, more increases (something like E25,000 per annum) to consultants, more bonuses to HSE administrators, big salaries and more expenses to politicians. More ordinary people dying on trolleys, longer waiting lists, more money into the pockets of the PRIVATE GP business that is local healthcare in Ireland.

We still have a USA type system which is neither efficient nor effective for the majority of people.

My reason for comparing Ireland with Cuba was to illustrate what can be done with the minimum of material wealth but with a government and medical profession dedicated to the welfare of the people before their own wealth.

Of course we can talk until we are purple in the face about what is wrong here, how we are personally suffering, or repeat the terrible stories of cancer patients, cystic fibrosis patients, children waiting for heart operations, people paying E3,000 a week for the care of elderly parents etc. Yes, we can denigrate 'third world countries' and their lack of equipment and access to drugs and make comparisons with our own well-equipped private hospitals, but WHO is benefitting from all this top of the range equipment?

80% of the wealth created by the Celtic Tiger was in the hands of 20% of the population. The wealth remaining is still in the hands of a tiny percentage of the population while Brian Lenihan tells us 'there is no golden circle' anymore!

Not only that, but that 20% were given special tax breaks, created by McCreevy, continued by Aherne and Cowen; tax breaks which exempted them from paying ANY ordinary income tax. That does not happen in any other country in Europe OR even in the USA. But never mind, that 20% (which includes some politicians) wouldn't know what an A&E department looked like on a Saturday night and they care far less.

That is the political system that the majority here have consistently voted for. Galway couldn't drink the water out of their taps for two years. What did they do? They voted the same crowd back in. Why? Because very little is known here about how other countries work.

If we know nothing about health systems in the rest of the world we will just vote for more of the same. Yes... the NHS in the UK does have problems, they also have 67 million people to look after while we have 4.5 million! I am personally very grateful to the NHS (it saved my life) within 2 hours of presenting at a local hospital. I worked there for 37 years, paid my taxes and National Health Insurance contributions and so was entitled to immediate, totally free care, medication and hospitalisation for over three weeks.

# 160

Posted: 05/11/2009 09:32

Sceptical, with citizens having to buy aspirin on the black market and antibiotics being unavailable, along with dilapidated facilities and hugely outdated equipment, that is NOT something Cuba or any nation should be proud of - nor could it be considered a "proper" health service. That there is a proper health service in Sweden, France, Greece and also Turkey (at least Turkey 12 years ago at any rate) I agree. I know the UK is very proud of its NHS but also that like our own it is not without its very great and numerous faults - tho they are less prevalent.

I would agree with you on the Americanised system which Mary Harney seems so keen on. There has not been a community Health Service here in about 30 or 40 years, in my opinion. I do remember the great Dr. Noel Brown (just about) and how the medical profession, and politicians, in control of the Church, treated him when they felt they would lose some of their grip and control of the ordinary people if the state looked after its citizens.

# 159

Posted: 03/11/2009 18:37

coco

Thanks for your post on the 2nd Nov., you be right this discussion has taken an unusual twist, in fact I believe your complete post here to be right.

It be my opinion that we focus on Mary Harney's performance as health minister not Cuba's health system. Sure what's 3% anyway? not much it's like a miniscule droplet in the ocean. I checked polls here about Mary Harney since she became minister for health. Found quite a few. The 1st one "on her ratings after 6 months in office as health minister". Over the years ratings on irishhealth.com have gone further & further down for her performance on health which can be found here on Online Polls.

Chrissie 

UNITED WE STAND - DIVIDED WE FALL

# 158

Posted: 03/11/2009 00:12

"Our problem is here and now and thankfully is not one where we are foieced to act illegally in order to procure aspirin.  But sleeping on trolley s and dying on waiting lists is not a sing of progress." Anonymous

No indeed you will need to see your GP, pay the usual Euro 50 fee for and then whatever them chemist is charging today.

Aspirin in the UK and NI costs 35 pence for a pack of 16 over the counter.

My point is: we have nothing in the Republic of Ireland to be proud of; there is no proper health service for the majority of the people. There is, a PROPER health service in Cuba, in Europe and in the UK.

All the up-to-date equipment etc means nothing when the people are being ripped-off by a Neo-Con American system devised by Mary Harney. There is no such thing as a community Health Service. GPs run private businesses. People are not looked after on a community basis are they are elsewhere. People die in this Republic because they do not have money for private medicine.

It is all about private interests. It has been so since the state began. Remember how they - the medical profession, the Church and the politicians - crucified Dr Noel Browne when he wanted free treatment for mothers and children? What has changed?

# 157

Posted: 02/11/2009 23:08

This discussion has taken a unusual twist discussing the merits or de merits of  Cuba's  health system. The ordinary Joe public like myself know nothing about & are too busy working to have the time to research such matters. Is this another case of the over educated & underemployed flexing their intellectual muscle in an attemt to lord it over the rest of us. 

# 156

Posted: 02/11/2009 14:35

          Your first paragraph was indeed wise kbn. I see your point about people being healthier in Cuba - compared to the rest of Latin America and South America. But for any modern country, being healther than the developing world is not exactly a proud boast. I am glad to hear that you abhor Cuba's predicament and abhorr those responsible for it as well. Comparing it to our failings in terms of our health service is relevant too. Sceptial concentrating on what Cuba has done is probably a good lesson for developing countries in terms of vaccination programs etc but does not change the fac that it consists of dilapidated facilities and lack even the most basic madications and treatments, the former which Cubans desperately try to buy on the black market.

Bruisd, you are right. Our proble, is here and now and thankfully is not one where we are foieced to act illegally in order to procure aspirin.  But sleeping on trolley s and dying on waiting lists is not a sing of progress.

# 155

Posted: 31/10/2009 02:16

We've surely had enough about Cuba and its health service.

I'm sure they make better use of their limited facilities than we do with ours.    Do they give bonuses for closing hospitals and rearranging the patients sleeping on trollies in hospital corridors? Our problem is here and now, not in Havana.

It appears that we are willing to accept that some people are going to die while waiting to see a consultant or waiting for treatment. Which is better, waiting for promises of centres ofexcellence or getting timely treatment like we used to get not so many years ago? Is sleeping on trollies a sign of progress?    

# 154

Posted: 30/10/2009 19:21

• The health status of the Cuban population, vastly improved by the health care system since 1960, provided a sound foundation which could not be easily eroded.  By the 90s, Cuban children were being vaccinated against 13 childhood diseases -- more than any other country in the world, including the United States.  A host of diseases had been eradicated altogether, infectious diseases were at a minimum, and Cubans were dying of the same chronic conditions described in the mortality charts of industrialized countries.  A significant socio-political corollary was that the majority of Cubans trusted the health care system to work for them.


• Perhaps the most important single catalyst determining the positive outcome from the precarious 1990s was the presence of a solid community-oriented primary care network accessible to virtually every family in Cuba.  The family doctor-and-nurse teams, responsible for the health of some 150 families in a given neighborhood, concentrated their attention on health promotion, prevention of disease, environmental cleanup, priority attention to children and the elderly, prenatal care, and early detection of infection and chronic disease. 

The Cuban philosophy is “closed-loop” research, in which investigation priorities are based on priority health problems that need solving, whether outbreaks of disease (such as meningitis or hepatitis); the financial urgency of replacing expensive imported drugs; or the conditions that come with aging.  Research is carried out, and then results applied nationally and/or internationally, thus “closing the loop.”  Vaccine research is currently being carried out into such “neglected diseases” as cholera, dengue, tuberculosis and leptospirosis.

From: Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba. (MEDICC) a non-profit organization working to enhance cooperation among global health communities ...our experience has taught us that health care in the United States and developing countries alike – especially for under-served populations – can be informed by Cuba’s singular and evolving health practices, research and policies.

http://www.medicc.org/ns/index.php?s=11&p=0

# 153

Posted: 30/10/2009 18:36

It is a sobering thought, if we are talking of the "fact" that the earth is not flat, that not too long ago people were tortured and put to death for questioning the "fact" that it WAS flat! Ditto for those who denied the equally well established and universally known "fact" that the sun and planets all orbited round the earth at the centre of the universe.  Sure couldn't any fool see it was a "fact" - you only had to see the sun came up in the east and went down on the other side at night.  So aways beware the man quoting "facts"!  Everything we see is through our own eyes and our own mind - both of which are monumentally fallible - and history proves that yesterday's "fact" is today's misguided "myth", the eternal testament to Man's enduring vanity.  When Socrates was asked how was he the wisest man to ever live and how did he know so much, he said "It is because I know only one thing - namely, that I know nothing".  There's wise for you.

To buzz & sceptical, I think we may be on the same wavelength. 

To Anonymous, aren't you missing my point about Cuba's health system?  My point was that despite all the inadequacies and privations you list, people are still healthier in Cuba than in the countries you prefer with all the costly machines and medicines.  Hence my original question - why are so many of us ill in our country?  Also don't twist things please - far from admiring Cuba's predicament I absolutely abhor it.  What I admire is the spirit that lives on in the face of such adversity and rises above it.  Cuba's catastrophic woes are due directly to American sanctions against the nation which have been in place now for 50 years with the (so far unsuccessful) aim of crushing the country and bringing it back within the American sphere of influence to the days when Sinatra and his mafia friends ruled the roost and ran the lucrative drugs, prostitution and abortion rackets with impunity.  And I don't see the famous Mr Obama doing much about ending it either.  If they can survive this for half a century, all i ask is what excuse have we in this country for our failings?

kb

three kinds of disciples, those who impart Zen; those who tend the altars & temples; those who are the rice-bags & clothes-hangers

# 152

Posted: 30/10/2009 16:22

Yes Anonymous, you would be wrong, but you would be mistaken in your idea of what fact actually is. In the case of what you were arguing over re Cubas healthcare system, one CAN have an opinion that the health system is GOOD, just as one can have an opinion that the health system is BAD. Whether it has  a good or bad health system is not a concise, defined and unchangeable fact...like the world being flat, therefore we ARE allowed to have opinions on it. The world being flat is not subjective or open to perception or interpretation of information...whether Cuba has a good health system...IS all of the above, and you are not the authority on it.

# 151

Posted: 30/10/2009 08:20

It could certainly be described as unique though how any system which cannot provide basic medicine and even vaguely modern equipment and facilities could be described as "successful" is beyond  me. Any system where people who can afford it have to buy basic medicine on the black market IS a two tier system, sadly.

# 150

Posted: 29/10/2009 16:17

bluebird,

Thanks for your wonderful comments. Every sentence you say is true......except, I hope that there remains a possibility people will realise the truth in your words... and others....and maybe this country can change...despite the forces of greed that have existed so far.  Thanks again.

# 149

Posted: 29/10/2009 09:38

Buzz, when opinions contradict facts, then yes they're wrong. If I opined that the earth was flat, I would be wrong. Sceptical, what I've stated about Cuban healthcare comes from Cubans living in Cuba including one Cuban doctor also living in Cuba. I didn't realise to be honest that there were right-wing Cubans in Florida issuing propaganda. kbn, given that they don't have the equipment, facilities or basic medicine, how on earth can their health system be said to 'run' at all? And believe me, it is not the envy of the world at all - in fact it is not even the envy of Cubans if you get to know and talk to them. Comparing it to South America is hardly the same as comparing it to France, Sweden or even the U.S. Cuban medics are sent to lecture and practice outside Cuba - in exchange for cheap oil and other resources, this is true. If the planet you want to be one is one of dilapidated facilities, outdated equipment and lack of basic medicine giving rise to a medicine black market, then you're welcome to it.

# 148

Posted: 28/10/2009 23:54

Two different ways of looking at the same thing (kbn and anonymous) but conveying totally different impressions of the system. Anonymous conveys disparagement. kbn understanding and approval. Thanks kbn. You confirm what I have previously been told. Whatever about the age of equipment, the successful and people-centred system which he described as "unique" in its focus and in the world keeps people healthy. It is absolutely NOT a two-tier system. Perhaps Mary Harney, instead of spending 700,000+ Euro on swanking about at conferences in the US, might have learned something about the rights of the people to proper health care had she visited Cuba.

# 147

Posted: 28/10/2009 17:23

yes it's all true.  Cuba's facilities are dilapidated, their equipment antiquated (old machines no longer good enough for ourselves), and basic medicines (the ones we - who are always complaining - can buy in any chemist) are in chronic short supply!  All this due to the attentions of our old friend the United States.  And still - their public health service for the entire country runs on a budget less than Beaumont Hospital and is the envy of the world.  Medical students come from all every country in South America to study in Havana where their studies (and their board & lodgings) are provided free.  In turn, Cuban medics lecture and practice all over South America as well.  If this is a "different planet", perhaps it may not be an altogether bad one, and we on this planet could certainly learn a lot from their spirited resourcefullness and enthusiasm in the face of adversity we can not even conceive of.  Wonder if they waste much?

three kinds of disciples, those who impart Zen; those who tend the altars & temples; those who are the rice-bags & clothes-hangers

# 146

Posted: 28/10/2009 16:52

I am sorry but an opinion, by the nature of it's very definition, cannot be wrong. You may disagree with it, but that is a different matter. Only claims of fact can be "right or wrong" - an opinion is entirely subjective and therefore is not confined to being "right" to suit others.

# 145

Posted: 28/10/2009 15:53

Really odd sometimes, the assertions that are made here. 

Anonymous: your views on Cuban healthcare, commonly accepted amongst medics trained in the UK to be top quality, are to say the least odd. My brother worked as a medic there in cancer research for 5 years. The two pictures (his and yours) do not match.

Have you any evidence (apart from propaganda issued by right-wing Cubans in Florida) to back your claims?

# 144

Posted: 28/10/2009 14:52

"Apparently having health insurance does not protect people from the cutbacks. I have just heard of an individual who has private cover being on a waiting list for a surgical procedure where there were 30 such procedures carried out in 2008 & none this year."

Interesting coco! Well then, Harney is doing ok compared to that.

three kinds of disciples, those who impart Zen; those who tend the altars & temples; those who are the rice-bags & clothes-hangers

# 143

Posted: 28/10/2009 13:52

Oh yes, they're entitled to have an opinion - no matter how wrong it is but seriously, anyone looking to Cuba for inspiration really on a different planet. I mean Cuba - their facilities (and I mean the ones for Cubans not the show pieces tourists see) are dilapidates, their equipment antiquated and there is a chronic lack of the absolute most basic neccesities as regards medicines (ones whichwe can buy in any shop or chemist) which has led to an enormous black market in medicine for any Cuban who has the money.

# 142

Posted: 27/10/2009 19:44

Hi KBN,

Apparently having health insurance does not protect people from the cutbacks. I have just heard of an individual who has private cover being on a waiting list for a surgical procedure where there were 30 such procedures carried out in 2008 & none this year.

# 141

Posted: 27/10/2009 19:20

Hi Buzz,

Yes the 3% are undoubtedly entitled to their opinion but this is hardly the forum to discuss such rights - 100% of the population is entitled to a decent reliable health service.

The health service is shambolic, whatever the dreaming 3% thinks.

# 140

Posted: 27/10/2009 13:30

Hi anon- believe it or not those 3 % are actually allowed to have an opinion of their own, and whereas I don't agree with them re Harney, I think it IS wise to look beyond the obvious at times.

# 139

Posted: 27/10/2009 11:40

Oh COME OFF IT KBN, how could ANYONE ANYWHERE think for a second that Mary Harney was doing a good job? The Health service is SHAMBOLIC.

# 138

Posted: 26/10/2009 17:37

Anonymous Thanks for sending me Mary Harney's email address for dept., of health, I also emailed her with my views of our delapadated health system. It prompted me to go into this website "Department for Health & Children" and see what's there, as I was more into the different HSE Sites. When I clicked on Role and Mission: it read:-

Our mission is: To improve the health and well-being of people in Ireland in a manner that promotes better health for everyone, fair access, responsive and appropiate care delivery, and high performance.

It makes my skin crawl to read such a statement, when in fact the opposite is happening, and being happening a long long time before our now World Wide Recession. The worst thing of all, that they our bl***y government don't give a damn about any human beings health or ill-health.

Chrissie

UNITED WE STAND - DIVIDED WE FALL