Paul Murphy urges one-tier national health service, slams austerity

The Minister's speech basically contained two themes as far as I could see. Firstly Fianna Fáil did it first and secondly there's no policy change that will change the situation facing people who are currently sitting on trolleys or on outpatient lists and so on. The first thesis is accurate, Fianna Fáil did do it first, it doesn't reduce the responsibility of the Minister of the last two Fine Gael governments for the current state of the health service where you have almost a doubling of the number of people on trolleys in the course of the eight years of Fine Gael rule. But it is true that we are still struggling with the legacy of the horrific cuts in the 1980s when 3,000 beds were lost where between then and the onset of the crisis that was beginning to be recovered and improved but that was never dealt with. And then you had the onset of the economic crisis, massive austerity introduced first by Fianna Fáil and the Greens. There was a study in 2014 by Trinity College which showed that €2.7 billion was taken out of the health service resulting between 2009 and 2014 resulting in 12,000 less staff, 21,000 less inpatient appointments and 30,000 less day cases in 2012 to 2014. And so you had decades of under resourcing which is the responsibility primarily of Fianna Fáil but secondarily of Fianna Gael and then compounded by austerity since the crash, Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael together with the same policies and that continues. And the consequences of those austerity policies are in the huge waiting lists are in the huge waiting lists and the trolleys etc. but also in the entrenchment of the two-tier nature of the health service which is what a root of a lot of the problems that we have. Public hospitals were forced into financial dependence on income from private patients allowed to jump the queue ahead of poorer but sicker patients. And even when they finally access treatment the care they receive is generally inferior. So that gets me to the second point which is the idea that there is no single policy change that can turn things around. I think that is part of the propaganda and argumentation of successive governments and successive ministers which is to suggest that the issue of health is just you really can't do anything about it. No matter who goes in there, no matter what they do, it's always going to be a crisis. No matter how much money you spend, it's the black hole of health. There is a very simple policy change which would transform the situation. And that is to adopt a policy of building a national health service. A properly funded national health service which has one tier rather than two. Which prevents people paying out of pocket for medical expenses. Which prevents people from paying huge amounts of money for private medical insurance. And ensures that everyone has equality of access to our health service. That is the policy change that is needed. That is the policy change that would transform people's lives. But unfortunately the government points in the very opposite direction. I want to deal with one kind of discrete area of the health service to illustrate the point. Which is the question of ambulances. I got an answer from the HSE just last week. In relation to the expenditure of the HSE on private ambulance services. In the first eight months of 2019. And the answer I received was that 7 million euros has been spent on private ambulance services. The reason stated being that they need to fill the gap for hospital transfers. Which involves the use of taxis. And so there, it's relatively small in the scheme of the health service. But you have a clear example of an underfunded ambulance service. Made up for by paying for private operators to step in. That happens at the same time as what is really disgraceful treatment of the ambulance workers. What is union busting treatment of the ambulance workers. Personally directed by the Minister for Health. Against those who want to be members of NASRA. And who are told after I think 7 days of strike action now. That they can't. That the HSE won't be dealing with them. And every single time they protest outside the Dáil. We raise it in here. We get the same answer from the Minister every time. Which is basically pointing towards. Well we think there's enough unions currently organising ambulance workers. Paramedics. And therefore we don't think that they should be entitled to have a union of their choice. It's utterly scandalous. But it's replicated by the treatment of workers. Right across the health service. That's one area. But obviously the creeping. And maybe creeping understated at this stage. The expansive but not openly declared privatisation of our health service. Takes place right throughout it. Takes place in terms of the National Treatment Purchase Fund. Takes place in terms of the payment of agency nurses. As opposed to employing people directly to work. As part of the health service here. Takes place in terms of private consultants. Using public hospitals. Takes place in terms of people being able to jump queues and so on. It's absolutely everywhere. The alternative is to invest in a national health service. That would make a huge difference in terms of people's lives. In terms of people's health outcomes. And in terms of equality in our society. And health inequality is huge in Ireland. Statistics continually come out. It would also make a difference in terms of people's pockets. I got an answer from the Minister this week. About the average amount an average household spends on private healthcare and private health insurance each year. And you confirmed that the average household spends €960 a year on medical expenses. Covering things like GP, dentist visits, hospital visits etc. And the household budget survey gives a combined figure for medical and dental insurance in the same period. Of over €1200 annually for insurance. And so households in this state. Because we don't have a national health service. Are already spending over €2000 on average. In order to try to access the healthcare that they need. The consequences for this underfunding are very clear. They are spelled out by Phil Nehae and the INMO. In terms of the various press releases put out. About the coming winter crisis. Predicting that nearly 4%. The HSE. Predicting nearly 4% more patients attend emergency departments. But with 400 fewer staff, nurses and midwives. And the coming crisis. If the recruitment pause isn't ended. And you don't have proper staffing of our health service. The most extreme case. Of the consequence of this underfunding. Of course is the estimated 300 to 350 people. Who will die as a consequence of overcrowding. As a consequence of people stuck on trolleys. Et cetera, et cetera. I mean it's absolutely horrific. And that is on top of the experience of sitting on a trolley. On top of the experience of your family member being on a trolley. On top of the experience of 1 in 10 of the population. Currently sitting on outpatient lists. Unable to access the healthcare that they need. So we need a national health service. A national health service is a part in my opinion. Of a Green New Deal for Ireland. Employing the proper number of staff. To properly resource our health services. Means creating thousands more jobs. And those jobs are low carbon jobs. They're low carbon. And very high quality, high value jobs. For our society. It also means in my opinion taking on the power. Of the pharmaceutical companies. Who we regularly deal with. You know scandals here. Of people seeking to access. Necessary pharmaceuticals. And medicines. Often for their children. And unable to do so. Because of the ransom. That these pharmaceutical companies. Are attempting to extract. From people. So it points to the need. For public ownership. Of the pharmaceutical companies. In the meantime. A programme. Of generic production. Through publicly owned. Pharmaceutical companies. To ensure that life saving drugs. Can be accessible. To all. It means taking private hospitals. Healthcare companies. Out of the hands. Of profiteers. And in that way. Building. A national health service. Equitably accessible. To all who live here.