SPEAKING AT the most recent meeting of the Regional Health Forum West, Cllr Declan Bree, warned of the increased outsourcing of health services to the private sector.
“At our last Forum meeting when I submitted a question I discovered that the HSE in the West was making significant payments to the Mater Private Hospital. said Cllr Bree.
“Last year the HSE West paid the Mater Private Hospital a sum of €4,921,000. This was to cover the cost of oncology services provided to public patients in the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre, which is located on the campus of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.
“I was also told that the HSE West makes payments to other private hospitals but in order to extract details from the HSE financial systems specific hospital names would be required.
“In addition it has been brought to my attention that a private for profit medical company, Euromedic, has set up business in Sligo General Hospital specialising in MRI and CT Scans.” Cllr Bree said.
“Euromedic has many of its operations in Eastern Europe. Its main shareholder is Merrill Lynch & Co. which is the wealth management division of Bank of America. The fact that international banks are moving into the health care sector in Ireland with the blessing of the government and the HSE will surly be a worry for every citizen.
“Everyone now knows that the former Health Minister Mary Harney promoted private medical companies at the expense of the public health system. Her policy was to privatise the health system. While the public health system was being starved of funding Ms Harney and her government colleagues not only encouraged the private companies but provided them with millions of Euro in state subsidies and tax breaks so as to increase their profits.
“If we are to avoid healthcare being bought and sold as a commodity, and if we are to avoid the type of primitive health system that exists in the USA, then all of us need to be vigilant and we must demand adequate resources for our public health services and hospitals.” said Cllr Bree.