Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IRELAND HAS BEEN ranked as the country with the worst (or longest) waiting times in a comprehensive health study.
The 2016 European Health Consumer Index (EHCI) ranked Ireland 21st overall, out of 35 countries – which is the same ranking as last year‘s Index.
The study measured 48 indicators in various different groups, including treatment, results, waiting times, patient information, and was based on WHO and OECD research.
Ireland ranked 14th place in 2013 – and saw a significant drop once the study began including patient organisation feedback in their study, as a type of ‘reality check’.
The Irish Patients’ Association responded to the study by saying they hoped that this was “a watershed moment”.
“Accountability at all levels is required, and if there are ” any principalities of entitlement” which impact on, or block timely access to health care for any sick people they must be removed.”
The author of the study Dr Arne Bjornberg said on Morning Ireland that some countries didn’t have statistics on waiting lists because there was no waiting list for hospital care.
Last year, there was a quite remarkable HSE memo about a programme to reduce waiting times, for specialists. But even if that target is reached, it’s still the worst by far.
He said that trying to achieve an average waiting list time was difficult, but that Sweden, Poland and the UK were also ranked along Ireland as the countries with the worst waiting times.
Ireland was also the fifth worst country for ‘efficiency’, or “getting bang for your buck”, as Bjorgberg put it.
“We’ve taken the index scores and related them to spend per captia (Sweden don’t do well either). [This might be because] a lot of politicians who believe you save money with long waiting lists, when in reality they make things more expensive.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Is anyone surprised… Shameful and disgraceful but seems never a priority to those that are responsible. Because its same story time and again. All talk never action.
The public health system doesn’t work properly because it’s not meant to. If it did there would be no opportunity for private capital to profiteer on people’s medical needs. So the degradation of the public health system is quite deliberate as a former Minister for Health Brendan Howlin has acknowledged. Gene Kerrigan sums it up below:
“Here is my favourite-ever quote from a politician. It’s from Brendan Howlin, the current Minister for Thrashing the Social Infrastructure.No, it’s not the quote from 2011, just before the election, when he asked for our votes and told us: “We are against water charges.”No, it’s from an interview Brendan gave about a decade after he was Minister for Health. Being a thoughtful man, he had spent some time reflecting on his experience in coalition. He wondered why he and others had failed to deliver “a first-class public health system”.He had since realised, he told author Maev-Ann Wren:”If we did that, there would be no reason for sustaining a private system.”And the right-wing want a thriving private health market. They want, according to Brendan, around 30pc of people to pay for private health products.
However, he said: “In order for that to happen, they really required the public [health] system to be inferior. Why else, if it was first-rate, would people pay for a private system?”
That’s the sound of a penny dropping.”
Ain’t that the truth! Your comment came in just before mine but you’ve hit the nail on the head Patches!
@Patches O Houlihan: So true…and isn’t it a stroke of lucky that Uncle Den just happens to own a private hospital…
@Patches O Houlihan: Great comment. it’s absolutely disgraceful the amount of people who’ve had to suffer in this country due to greed. The saddest thing of all is that most of these guys will get elected again and again even though its common knowledge they put profit before the welfare of the people the were elected to serve. How can we call this democracy?
Gene Kerrial is very good, spot on most of the time. These politicians are a disgrace, jail is the best place for a lot of them.
Patches I think it is true that the private system props up the public system. However I seriously doubt our politicians have the intellectual capacity to do so to increase corporation profits. I think it is just their abject failure in the public system and secretly they praise the lord for the private system.
@John B:
It’s not incompetence. It’s policy.
Those who are responsible and who can do something about it all have private health insurance , so where’s the problem?
Some1 needs to clear house in the HSE start over there are way too many middle management jobs not enough frontline staff
@Kevin Finnegan: Nail. Head.
Every hospital is full of staff. Administration staff.
It’s a systematic failure of multiple governments, and the unions.
To the best of my knowledge there are more managers than nurses
To many people getting big wages and not been held accountable for what is a disgrace of a health service , for as long as i can remember i never heard of anyone getting sacked for this disaster .
This is the real problem – “We also ranked the fifth worst for getting value out of the money we put into our healthcare system.”
Billions pumped in and billions wasted.
Follow the money! How many TDs Senators and their families own or have shares in Private Hospitals or Nursing Homes? Redacted would lose out and FG and FF would lose out on Party funding as a consequence Health System is being run down deliberately to privatise and fill their pockets
@Maireben, what a great topic for Fact Check! If only The Journal had the guts to do it.
This is news considering this topic is covered every day on every social media site for years.
It’s no accident that the health service is the way it is. It’s been run into the ground on purpose.
Think there is a correlation between this report and the ridiculous amount of private healthcare ads on tv.
Yep but rather than getting upset about things like this the useful idiots are off staging Trump protests. Look how many govt officals are egging on these protests, it distracts people away from how bad they’re doing.
When can we expect your anti-HSE march so? Or are you too busy whinging about other people protesting other things to get off your lazy backside and do something?
It’s seems some Irish politicians are more interested in a terrorist in a Egyptian jail or Trump
Just bring in Micheal O Leary sorted this out
@Aidan O connor: Can we stop with this ‘MOL is the messiah’ nonsense please? You go ahead and ask him to fix the HSE and wait for the answer you get. Mr O’Leary is a profit making machine, the HSE is, on paper at least, supposed to be a people first organisation.
@Tony Le Blanc:
MOL creates profit from managing Ryanair efficiently. The planes are safe, modern and arrive on time and Ryanair continually invests in its infrastructure. The HSE is not efficient and needs good management to make it so. MOL or similar personally earn millions every year and have the mandate to to implement actions based upon their decisions. There is no chance of attracting this calibre person to the HSE.
@Nick Allen:
“…managing Ryanair efficiently. The planes are safe, modern and arrive on time and Ryanair continually invests in its infrastructure.”
LOL Mr O’leary, re-login please.
@Nick Allen:
“…managing Ryanair efficiently. The planes are safe, modern and arrive on time and Ryanair continually invests in its infrastructure.”
LOL Mr. O’leary, re-login with your original account
He’d charge you for the bedside locker, there would be different size lockers of course. And the nurses would be doing their rounds with medication and scratch cards.
Well said Gerard. It’s a shipheap* of a health system but we don’t need more profiteering Ireland can barely work as a state with what or who !! there is .We don’t need more businessmen or guys from the 1% taking ownership – health is not for profit so why do we tolerate how things r!!
My daughter was sent up by her doctor last Monday and had to wait 9 hours before she seen a doctor as the Mater hospital went of call at 4that day so the waiting time went up to between 5and 8hours there were 6 ambulances sitting out side to bring sick people in but there was no room inside the Hse has to get the house in order and make bed available.
Well there’s a surprise….!!!
I waited 5 hours with a broken toe in Tallaght hospital only to be told to come back the next day.
Just got a letter from hospital to to see a consultant , 4yrs plus was the waiting time , yep rang and cancelled , I’ll find another way .. Crazy ..
The Irish health care system needs more managers
@Imnotrodten: Don’t forget more consultants and advisers. Who needs proper doctors and nurses.
What sickens me is that when it suits their agenda, ie like with Water Charges, the Government will note how we have to come into line with over EU countries and how they are doing it!! Wont hear that line been spun in this instance though!!!
What place are Sweden?
We need jobs we need health care you would think our government would invest in school levers to be trained in health care and up date our health care services. How many have left here, all that tax, vat, extra money in the economy the investment would well pay for it self.
What are “PRINCIPALITIES OF ENTITLEMENT” I think I know but not sure ?
Maybe some of those tossers who signed an online campaign against trump might climb down off their high horses and get protesting against this?….
Tell us something we don’t know!
We all already know this first hand lol
Really!!!!
Just take the E13 billion Apple tax.
Does anyone else recall the “Centre Of Excellence” scheme circa 2000 whereby the HSE went around the country closing hospitals and not replacing their beds or services…..
In retrospect that plan was not excellent.
have your say