Dr. Mick Molloy:

If you look at Sláintecare over a long period of time, the idea of providing care in the community should displace some activity from the hospitals but, right now, we have a crisis in hospital capacity. Our colleague, the previous speaker, mentioned the need for physiology measurements such as echocardiograms in hospitals. If Sláintecare was taken to its ultimate extreme and there was free and open access to healthcare across the system for every patient in the State, general practice would be overwhelmed. There would be a group of people, usually men in their 40s and 50s, who do not now get examined suddenly being diagnosed with conditions. This will immediately result in more referrals to hospital for acute care. Over 30 or 40 years, that will all balance out but, in the beginning, there will be a surge in demand for services unless we can front-load and get those services and beds in now. Our biggest concern about Sláintecare is that we are not looking at the two sides at the same point. We are looking at chronic care and almost ignoring the crisis that is now happening because we are focused on that chronic care. Right now, we have a crisis in emergency and acute care that we need to address, in addition to Sláintecare.