Seanad debates
Wednesday, 26 March 2003
Health Services: Motion.
The health service is excellent for those who can gain access to it. Two members of my immediate family required acute hospital services in recent years and both of them could not have been better looked after in terms of the quality of medical care they received. In the case of one of them, I do not believe they could have been provided with better care in any other country. We have good doctors and nurses, but the problem in the health service relates to access rather than care. Many people cannot access quality care because there is not enough available. In many instances, the care provided is excellent. For example, cancer services are extremely good but many who need them find that the provision of such services throughout the country is patchy nationally. That is why there are horrendously high levels of fatalities among women, for example. Not every woman who contracts breast cancer has the same access as others to good quality care. Where the care is available, it is of a superb quality.
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