Health

The Workers’ Party is committed to a New Direction for health and social care services in Ireland. This includes:

• Introducing a universal publicly funded health system through general taxation and free at the point of delivery model of Health and Social Care Services.
• Developing a cohesive health and social care strategy, including community care, which, as a primary political priority, tackles existing health inequalities and accords a proper level of funding to meet the needs of all citizens.
• Ending all State subsidies to the private health care sector, including the insurance sector, and ending all HSE contracts with private for profit organisations.
• The State directly employing staff to carry out all health care roles.
• Introducing a direct state contract for General Practitioners and consultants which precludes them from working outside of the public health care system.

The crisis in our Mental Health services must be urgently tackled. Therefore, the Workers’ Party is committed to:

• The provision of sufficient staff across the relevant range of specialties, along with adequate clinical and hospital facilities;
• The prioritisation of sufficient investment in home treatment and crisis response teams needed to maintain people in the community, and support service users in their recovery;
• Replacing the Lunacy Regulation Act (Ireland) Act 1871, with the 2013 Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill, and ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Workers’ Party believes that a properly funded health service is central to the development of a humane and decent society and demands health and social care services fit for purpose and designed to deliver quality health outcomes and address decades of inequalities and neglect.

Health can be fixed, but it requires the political will to do so.