Sir, - The recent spate of letters from medical professionals bemoaning the shortage of doctors, nurses, specialist equipment, health cuts in the 1980s etc., all made for interesting reading. Most people have the utmost sympathy and respect for the efforts of healthcare professionals as they endeavour to provide the best possible service under trying conditions. But many of the contributors missed a crucial point about healthcare provision in an advanced capitalist economy such as ours.
In the ongoing guerrilla warfare against the public sector, healthcare is one of the main battlegrounds. Underfunding, with the consequent decline in quality and coverage of the service, is essential to justify the forthcoming privatisation of the health system. Major insurance companies, private hospital consortia etc., need the State to drive the public system to the wall so as to create space for them to market their "product".
The current situation is not the result of ministerial oversight, incompetence or bad judgment, it is deliberate policy. In a country "awash with money" the Government still begrudges doctors and nurses a decent salary commensurate with their education and efforts. Record budget surpluses are to be gambled on world stock markets while charity is required to purchase state-of-the-art medical equipment. There is no more profound indictment of the Government's attitude towards public health provision.
At the root of all this is the move to privatise the health service in line with the American system. Unless we completely reject the whole concept of private healthcare, with its explicit bias towards the better-off, we will have many more anguished letters from healthcare workers about the state of the public health system. - Yours, etc.,
Ciaran Mc Kenna, Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8.