A number of women were shocked to discover earlier this year that they would be unable to obtain private healthcare at the Rotunda Hospital in the future.

One, in a letter to The Irish Times, said women, particularly those with complex conditions, should not have care pulled from them at such vulnerable times in their lives. Others supported private healthcare because it increased patient choice.

You have to be sympathetic to the feelings of stress these women were expressing.

How did this situation happen? Under Sláintecare, the State strategy to move towards universal healthcare, private care will no longer be allowed in public hospitals. Clearly, this message has not been sufficiently communicated.

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In 2017, the Committee on the Future of Healthcare published the Sláintecare report. The report was intended to move Ireland from its current two-tier health system to a single-tier model where every citizen would have equal access to healthcare based on need and not on ability to pay.

Ten years on, where is the health system at? There have been some important moves towards strengthening public care, such as the new public-only consultant contracts. However, waiting lists remain a big problem.

People continue to be treated........

© The Irish Times