Bizarre Move as HSE to Provide Hospital Services in Spain while closing Hospital Services in Ireland

Bizarre Move as HSE to Provide Hospital Services in Spain while closing Hospital Services in Ireland – Tóibín

Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has questioned the logic of the HSE providing hospital services in Spain while closing an A&E in Ireland. He stated;

“News that a hospital has opened up on the Costa Blanca, Spain which is dedicated to the treatment of Irish patients on waiting lists sounds like an April Fools joke 2 months late. The Hospital will provide almost every treatment there that is performed in Ireland to initially 1,500 Irish patients in the first year. At a time of Climate Change the HSE thinks it better that patients take flights to Spain to get health treatment than travel to their local hospital. Right in the middle of a Cost of Living Crisis the HSE expects sick patients to get flights and hotel accommodation in Spain to undergo routine operations”.

“Covid has made international travel extremely unpredictable. Another serious wave of Covid could see the Spanish government restrict travel from Ireland. Where would that leave Irish treatment in the Costa Blanca Hospital. The HSE is outsourcing public healthcare to a private Spanish Hospital Group. The Minister for Health must detail openly what is the cost of this contract and will the HSE pay for the use of this hospital even if Irish patients cant travel because of Covid. The whole plan is stranger than fiction especially when you consider that the HSE is closing down Hospital capacity here in Navan because the they won’t provide acute surgery services.

“The mind boggles to think what the next HSE plan will be. Mental Health in Morocco, Maternity Services in Milan, Coronary Care in Copenhagen. The Minister needs to reign in the HSE and refocus them on providing Irish patients with public health care in Ireland” concluded Tóibín

CRÍOCH

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.