Madam, - The Health Service Executive is intended to supersede the health boards in January next as part of the Government's changes in health service administration which are dressed up as reforms. The dictionary definition of "reform" implies improvement.
I do not agree that the imposition of another layer of management between the Department of Health and Children and service providers is likely to lead to any improvement.
Social partnership is likely to ensure that there will be a greater number of administrators occupied in the health system at the end of this process than is currently the case.
Full-page staff advertisements appeared in the press and included the statement: "The sole objective of health policy. . . is to deliver universal access to high-quality health services." No party in the country has attempted to define "a high-quality service".
Does it mean ready access to basic western investigations and treatments of common diseases? If so, we have an obvious supply side problem of a shortage of service providers, equipment and space.
Serving a population of four million, the health service is over-administered. Central command and control is not the way to go. True reforms will have to await a change of government. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr Dr BILL TORMEY, Glasnevin Avenue, Dublin 11.