Ireland has been ranked bottom of a Europe-wide survey on consumer healthcare.
Long waiting times for treatment, bleak medical outcomes and widespread MRSA infections are all cited in a new report that ranks Ireland 25th out of 26 states for healthcare. Ireland is ranked 26th in terms of the value for money offered to consumers in the healthcare sector.
The findings are contained in the 2006 Euro Health Consumer Index, which was published yesterday by the healthcare consultancy Health Consumer Powerhouse.
The index, which ranks European healthcare systems on their responsiveness to patients, ranked France as the most consumer-friendly healthcare system in Europe. It was closely followed by Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Luxembourg, while the best value for money was offered by the healthcare systems of Slovenia and Estonia.
The survey analysed 28 separate indicators in five categories: patients' rights to information; waiting times for common treatments; care outcomes; the generosity of the system; and access to medication.
Ireland was awarded top marks in just one of the 28 performance indicators: the subsidy offered for prescription medicines. But the report notes that in most of the other areas, Irish patients have little to be happy with. It specifically cites as significant challenges the long waiting lists, bleak medical outcomes, bad scores for infant deaths, MRSA infections in hospitals and the low penetration of the polio vaccination among children. Ireland still lacks a patient ombudsman as well as the right to a second opinion or a 24/7 telephone or web-based healthcare information system, concludes the report on the consumer health index.
Ireland scored 359 points out of a possible 750 in the survey.
Only Lithuania is ranked below Ireland in terms of the healthcare available to consumers, scoring 340 points.
However, it leapfrogs Ireland when services are rated on value for money.
"Unfortunately, with its severe waiting list problems and less than fantastic outcomes quality, Ireland does not score very well," says Dr Arne Bjornberg, Euro Health Consumer Index director.
"The Health Service Executive reform will hopefully go some way towards changing this."
The report recommends that Ireland should: cut waiting times; develop a no-fault malpractice insurance; set up a patient ombudsman; and make sure all children are given a polio vaccination.
Overall the report highlights that the position of the consumer in the healthcare sector remains weak. For example, three-quarters of the national health systems make many patients wait more than three weeks for a cancer treatment; only one-third of states would allow you direct access to a specialist; and medical records are still inaccessible for patients in half of member states, according to the report.
Health Consumer Powerhouse is a private company that specialises in providing consumer information on healthcare. It publishes magazines on the topic in Sweden and provides information to the private sector such as pharmaceutical firms.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients' Association said it was a poor report card for Ireland, which clearly must be worked on by the authorities.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the survey's conclusions are out of date on some aspects of the Irish system. "And they ignore important improvements and realities of the Irish health service. For example, they don't acknowledge the huge improvements in waiting lists. They don't understand that our ombudsman covers aspects of the health service, and they don't seem to understand that Irish patients have access to a GP service on the same-day basis."