Dr. Sara Burke:

We should definitely avoid what England has done with its NHS over the past 20 years, which is to constantly reorganise and privatise vast swaths of it. It is not a particularly useful model for us to look at right now. The work Dr. Johnston has done around population-based resource allocation is one of the keys to changing how we provide care and how those resources are allocated to meet a population need. If we were doing population-based resource allocation, which is the plan, but it is not yet happening, and if that had a strong need equity focus, issues such as the points made by Professor Thomas would roll out of it. How many people do we need to provide care for this population? What are the different roles of those people, be they carers, assistants, nurses or doctors? Using mechanisms such as population-based resource allocation and integrated workforce planning are probably more useful in an Irish context.