Where in the world will you find no hospital waiting lists? Free healthcare? People who live longer, healthier lives than the Irish? Where do doctors oppose the growth of private medicine because it's unfair?
In States of Health, a major new Irish Times series edited by Kevin O'Sullivan, our correspondents visit six states and evaluate a seventh and report on how they provide for their people's health. Maev-Ann Wren analyses the politics and economics of health in the featured states, whether access is equitable, how doctors are paid and how much they earn.
The appetite for change in Ireland has never been as keen, for the list of health system failures is long and growing: trolleys that double as beds; accident and emergency units strained close to breaking point; stubbornly high waiting lists; shortages of nurses and midwives; public patient care which comes tardily and is frequently delivered by trainee doctors; disillusionment and frustration among hugely committed healthcare workers; bureaucratic and out-moded management structures - and it goes on and on.
The doubling of health spending since 1997 has had little impact. A two-tier system between public and private patients is as pronounced as ever. The statistics and anecdotal evidence of those using Irish health services confirm the reality. Despite some notable improvements, the extent of problems is accepted by the Government. It is facing up to the complex demands of a modern health service and realising it goes far beyond provision of money. Radical structural reforms are demanded by the public at a time of unprecedented wealth, notwithstanding the recent economic downturn.
There is every indication that health will be the main issue in next year's general election - the Government's soon-to-be-published National Health Strategy suggests its course will be one of sweeping reform, despite concerns about the inevitable costs attached. The Irish Times has consistently shown the problems and their causes. States of Health expands our analysis to healthcare overseas, following a far-reaching examination of the failures and inequities of the present system in the series An Unhealthy State last year. No one system is perfect. Some bad systems have good features. Many possibilities for change do not fall into the quick-fix category and may take years to adopt. Nonetheless, they present new options and better ways to provide healthcare. This series will be carried in full on The Irish Times website, ireland.com, along with an in-depth examination of the Irish healthcare system at: www.ireland.com/special/hospital/