Demographic factors and attitudes that influence the support of the general public for the introduction of universal healthcare in Ireland: A national survey

Darker, Catherine; Donnelly‐Swift, Erica; Whiston, Lucy

doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2017.11.009

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In a comprehensive review of the reform process it has been argued that because a definition of the term ‘integration’ has not been agreed by stakeholders as the health service attempts to reform, that this acts as a barrier to the process. 51 This, together with the existing organisational culture of separation and lack of collaboration impedes interprofessional contacts and disrupts the provision of care. Medical dominance persists with health service managers deferring to the medical organisations in the nature and extent of integration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary Health Care and Community Pharmacy in Ireland: a lot of visions but little progress

Henman

2020

Pharm Pract (Granada)

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Ireland is small country with a population of 4.8M which spent 6.9% of its gross domestic product on healthcare in 2018. Health services are provided through a twin track approach – all public services are largely free to those eligible (32.44% in 2019) and private patients pay for most services. Most of the expenditure on medicines is paid by the government while visits to General Practitioners (GPs) are an out-of-pocket expense for private patients under 70 years of age, and private health insurance provides cover for most hospital services. Healthcare professionals in the primary care sector contract to provide public services with the Health Services Executive (HSE) which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the service. Primary care teams began to be formed in 2001 to try to link and integrate the provision of care but since these are led by GPs neither community pharmacists nor dentists joined these teams. The focus of policy remained the primary care team until a proposal to create a public health service to provide universal health coverage called Sláintecare was agreed in 2017. However, implementation of Sláintecare has been slow and piecemeal. The government regularly devises policies to control prescribing and the HSE, together with other regulators has implemented generic substitution and preferred drugs and limited access to expensive drugs through schemes for particular patient groups. A programme called Healthy Ireland has taken on the health promotion policies but pharmacists have been excluded from most programmes although some campaigns have included them. Community pharmacy organisations have tried to develop pharmacy services and while a few which are targeted at specified patient groups, such as opioid substitution, emergency administration of certain drugs, emergency hormonal contraception and seasonal influenza vaccination have been remunerated for public patients by the HSE, other services have not. GP organisations defend their members’ scope of practice and seek to influence policy makers to channel schemes and services through general practice. There is no professional body to represent pharmacists that is independent of any trade union responsibilities and this has weakened the profession’s advocacy. Pharmacists are one of the most trusted group of professionals in Ireland and have maintained their practices throughout periods of recession and declining income from government. Whether pharmacists can argue that the optimisation of a patient’s medicines depends upon their contribution and will benefit the health service remains an open question.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary Health Care and Community Pharmacy in Ireland: a lot of visions but little progress

Henman

2020

Pharm Pract (Granada)

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“…Typically, Ireland operates within a two-tiered healthcare system, which further signals to the Irish Government's commodification and financialisation of social policy through the implementation of a private and public healthcare model ( Darker et al, 2018 ). Generally, this means that if you can afford private health insurance, you will receive a better quality of care than those in the public sector ( Darker et al, 2018 ; Kennelly et al, 2020 ). Since the economic crash of 2008, the Irish Government has placed greater importance on the commercialisation of private healthcare and failed to ensure the adequate resourcing of the public sector ( Darker et al, 2018 ; Kennelly et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: An Ideological Turning Point or Normal Service Resumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, this means that if you can afford private health insurance, you will receive a better quality of care than those in the public sector ( Darker et al, 2018 ; Kennelly et al, 2020 ). Since the economic crash of 2008, the Irish Government has placed greater importance on the commercialisation of private healthcare and failed to ensure the adequate resourcing of the public sector ( Darker et al, 2018 ; Kennelly et al, 2020 ). Despite early efforts, it appeared as though a thorough consideration regarding the capacity of the healthcare system was lacking (O'Kelly, 2021).…”

Section: An Ideological Turning Point or Normal Service Resumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What was considered to be a political risk was implemented without question to tackle the circumstances at hand ( Clifford, 2020 ; Sheehan, 2020 ). Typically, Ireland operates within a two-tiered healthcare system, which further signals to the Irish Government's commodification and financialisation of social policy through the implementation of a private and public healthcare model ( Darker et al, 2018 ). Generally, this means that if you can afford private health insurance, you will receive a better quality of care than those in the public sector ( Darker et al, 2018 ; Kennelly et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: An Ideological Turning Point or Normal Service Resumed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ‘Playing a Blinder’ myth: The Republic of Ireland's pandemic response revisited

Kirwan

2021

Irish Journal of Sociology

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In a previous paper, ‘The Playing a Blinder Myth and why we must not forget shortcomings in unprecedented times’, it was argued that acting Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar's response to the pandemic was one of opportunism rather than one of competency. By adopting a similar method to the previous article, this piece will provide an updated discussion and commentary, based on newspaper articles covering the newly formed Irish (Republic of Ireland) government's response to the pandemic to date. This paper discusses the governance of the coalition of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and The Green Party to examine whether the context of the pandemic deflected the Irish public's attention from what was simply a continuation of the Government's normal approach to welfare, housing and healthcare. Therefore, this paper will focus on the coalition's decision to screen and tax recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, the enactment of housing strategies that have not met the existing issues within the housing market and how previous measures have not provided adequate protection for the healthcare system during the pandemic. In this short article, the Republic of Ireland's government response to the pandemic is revisited after a year of living with coronavirus within the context of welfare, housing and healthcare.

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“…Currently, those with PHI can bypass aspects of the public hospital system by attending private hospitals and clinics and therefore may be less willing to contribute additional tax revenues for a service that they perceive they will not use. Recent analysis found that though 87% of people were in favor of the introduction of universal health care in Ireland, 19 those who currently pay out of pocket for GP and other primary care were less in favor than those who currently receive such services free at the point of use, which may be associated with higher prevalence of private insurance among those who currently pay out of pocket. Experience from other countries including Brazil 20 and China, 2 for example, have shown the importance of public support in driving significant health care reform.…”

Section: Vested Interestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal Health Care in Ireland—What Are the Prospects for Reform?

Connolly

Wren

2019

Health Systems & Reform

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Demographic factors and attitudes that influence the support of the general public for the introduction of universal healthcare in Ireland: A national survey

Cited by 15 publications

References 19 publications

Primary Health Care and Community Pharmacy in Ireland: a lot of visions but little progress

Primary Health Care and Community Pharmacy in Ireland: a lot of visions but little progress

The ‘Playing a Blinder’ myth: The Republic of Ireland's pandemic response revisited

Universal Health Care in Ireland—What Are the Prospects for Reform?

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