When they knock…ask about solutions

As canvassing continues, politicians receive earfuls on everything from healthcare to housing. While the ranting is cathartic, what are the chances that any adult human living in Ireland – let alone a candidate for public office – does not already know that we have problem in our health service? Don’t let them off easy with just nodding along sympathetically.

It’s not even enough to ask them what are their proposed solutions. You need to ask them if they can identify the barriers to those solutions. Let’s be frank: they hardly have a new idea no one has thought of, so why isn’t it been done already and how are they going to get around that problem?

Here are answers NOT to accept:

1. any plan that is just “more beds” – Just “more beds” doesn’t fix a health service. 1) Because beds are just furniture without the necessary qualified healthcare professionals 2) up to 80% of our chronic disease could be preventable with better access preventative health measures 3) living well with chronic disease and healthy aging means being supported to be active, well, and in one’s community – not in a bed

2. “more doctors and nurses” isn’t going to just be about €. We have a global shortage of properly qualified healthcare professionals, and those that stay are at risk of burn out. (and burnt out professionals are not good for patient safety) What are we doing to fix working conditions?

3.) “replace doctors” The US and UK have increasingly done this and is not going well. Replacing someone with 15 years of specialist education and training with someone with 6-24 months -and less accountability – is not providing patients with safety or a standard of care, no matter how you dress it up.

Other health measures? Pick any! Ask them their proposed solutions for regulation of vape, accountability of social media, ideas to address the ever growing circulation health misinformation, regulation of aesthetic/cosmetic industry, addressing the pharmaceutical blackmarket, and enforcement of the existing medical practitioner legislation that was written to protect patients from unqualified/unregistered practitioners.

#healthservice #hse #votail #election2024 #generalelection