Sir, – The two-tier nature of the Irish health care system should be exposed by the coronavirus emergency.
It won’t be.
These days, hardly an hour passes without a radio advert advising us to take advantage of the plethora of private hospitals and clinics. You can get any aspect of healthcare, including emergency care, provided you belong to the most underexamined, exclusive club in Ireland, the club that only accepts those that can afford private health insurance.
Why haven’t we heard our private system offer to care for the needy should they develop coronavirus? We do hear endlessly of the capacity, and lack of capacity, in the public system?
The State should make a contingency plans to commandeer all hospital beds in Ireland for the preservation of public health and welfare, should the coronavirus take hold.
And, if this should happen, perhaps hold on to them, and establish a national health service. Perhaps this could be the crisis that could force us to end the class-based madness in health once and for all. – Yours, etc,
DECLAN
DOYLE ,
Kilkenny.
Sir, – “Starve a fever, feed a cold” is the old advice. When it comes to the coranavirus, it seems to be starve all other issues of oxygen and feed the public nothing but Covid-19. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN AHERN,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.