Money not sole factor in health, debate told

INCREASED SPENDING on healthcare does not necessarily lead to better results for patients, a debate on health service funding heard last night.

Seán Byrne, a lecturer in economics at Dublin Institute of Technology, said health should be judged on a consumption and investment basis and, if people lived healthier lives, they would see better results.

He was speaking at the Pfizer/ Irish Times debate in Trinity College Dubin on the motion that “this house believes that reduced health spending should not lead to poorer healthcare”. Mr Byrne, supporting the motion, said medical care was a factor that led to better health, but other factors such as increasing educational standards would generate better results.

Opposing the motion, Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said reducing health spending had had disastrous results. Cutbacks resulted in longer waiting lists and delayed discharges because patients had no facility to move on to.

Ireland had some of the best qualified doctors, nurses and physiotherapists anywhere in the world, Dr Reilly added, but current health recruitment policies were forcing them to move elsewhere.

TCD economics lecturer Dr Seán Barrett said Ireland was not getting value for money considering what it spent on healthcare.

Stephen McMahon, of the Irish Patients Association, said spending could not be reduced when matters such as cervical cancer vaccines, cystic fibrosis treatment and community mental health services were in disarray.