CONSULTANT ONCOLOGIST Prof John Crown has accused Fianna Fáil of political cynicism in continuing to have Mary Harney as Minister for Health.
He said he was deeply uncomfortable with the notion that the dominant party in Government had allocated the health portfolio to somebody who was not, apparently, going to run for the Dáil again, and did not have a party running for re-election.
"This is deeply cynical on Fianna Fáil's part," said Prof Crown, who is attached to St Vincent's hospital, Dublin. He said Fianna Fáil was doing the "ultimate Pontius Pilate" in allowing Ms Harney to make decisions on health.
Addressing delegates at the Labour conference in Kilkenny, he said the health service should have been reformed in the Celtic Tiger years. Prof Crown argued for a single-tier social health insurance system to "democratise, equalise and remove bureaucracy" from the Republic's health system.
"The main problems with the Irish system are that it is unfair, inefficient and of poor quality," he said. "Current Government policy is to enshrine this inequality. Co-located hospitals are wasteful, unfair and represent a hugely inefficient use of medical resources."
He claimed that public healthcare was distinctly mediocre, despite official denial.
"The quality will not be improved much by an army of 200 Hiqa inspectors. Quality will only be improved by investing in a high-quality health service," Prof Crown added.
