Local politics should not shape health policy, Leo Varadkar says

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has defended the Government's approach to healthcare and said one of its achievements has been a move towards making decisions about service provision based on medical evidence rather than local politics.

Mr Varadkar said Fine Gael had fully honoured its pledges to Independent Alliance Minister of State John Halligan over cardiac services at Waterford University Hospital.

Mr Halligan had expected a review of services in his constituency would recommend their expansion and was confident the approval of a second catherisation laboratory for University Hospital Waterford would be a “formality”. However, the review found such a development would not be justified and has thrown Mr Halligan’s participation in Government into question.

Mr Varadkar, a former minister for health, said he believed Ireland was getting to grips with reforming cancer care services, delivering a new children's hospital and other issues as key decisions were being left to clinical planners.

“One of the good things that has happened in Irish healthcare in the last 10 or 20 years is that we have taken some of the politics out of it . . . It should be done by international experts, best practice and not by politics,” he said.

“It would be a major step backwards now if politicians started to adjudicate on clinical evidence. My opinion has always been that when it comes to deciding where specialist centres should be located whether they are regional or national specialities, it should be done on clinical grounds.”

He added: “Politicians should not get involved in the detail of clinical criteria and shouldn’t be arguing with professors and consultants over whether there is one standard deviation or two standard deviations.”

Right decision

Mr Varadkar said he hoped Mr Halligan would not resign despite his dissatisfaction at the outcome of the independent review of cardiac services in Waterford. He said Mr Harris had made the right decision by getting external experts to review the situation.

"What Minister Harris did was he took someone from Belfast, someone who would not be influenced by local or regional or political considerations. They looked at it independently – looked at the evidence and determined that a second lab in that particular hospital was not warranted," he said.

"That is what we did with the cancer strategy – we took someone in from Canada who was independent and brought that forward. Because of that, hundreds of people who would not have survived cancer did."

Mr Varadkar said he understood Mr Halligan’s position and noted he was a committed public representative who works tirelessly for his constituents.

“We certainly want him to stay as part of our coalition. But ultimately that is a decision for him,” he said.

“I hope he stays – I think he has a lot to offer. He is a very good advocate for his region...He is part of the Independent Alliance and I know they want to stay in Government so I hope he makes the decision to stay.”