This article first appeared in Unity, the weekly publication of the Irish Communist Party, on 15 February 2025.
IT goes without saying that the National Health Service (NHS) is not performing a well as people would like. Those who constantly state that it is broken are not doing it any service indeed they give the impression that they have given up on its ethos. There are those involved in the private sector who for their own selfish reasons are quite prepared to further that idea. However, the answer or alternative to the NHS is not private healthcare so when we see headlines such as what appeared in the Irish News (5.2.2025) reading “Stampede for private healthcare” the alarm bells are ringing although they have been ringing for a while. The chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, David Hare, told The Times that private healthcare had become “increasingly normalised”.
He added to this that “unsurprisingly” growing NHS lists are the key driver, with patients going private benefiting from speedy access to the care they need, including the ability to get appointments for vital tests and scans-and their results-often within 48 hours, which can give then much needed peace of mind. We can safely say that those pushing private health care see rich pickings to be got at the expense of the NHS.
Those who understandably see the need to go private should be aware of the costs. Cataract surgery will set you back between £2000 and £4000 per eye. Hip replacements are between £10,000 and £15,000. There is no comparison between the role of the NHS and private medical care. Figures show that between 2018-2019, the equivalent of 564 million people were treat by the NHS whilst in 2022 the number of people treat by private practice was 820,000.
The private insurance companies will be the main beneficiaries of further private practice so it is imperative that improvements in the NHS are a priority otherwise we will be faced with a two tier health system where those who can pay get the best service whilst those who cannot pay end up with a second class service.
That is unacceptable in this day and age.
As outlined in the Programme of the Irish Communist Party, a new Ireland must keep positive achievements, such as the principle of a national health service. But, this needs to be expanded, so that there is popular involvement and control over how services are delivered. Communists aim to give power over this, and all aspects of their lives, to the working people.
Coupled with this, as part, too, of the progress towards a new Ireland, we are committed to fighting for genuine secularism in the management of our education and health services, and a recognition that religious institutions should not control these vital aspects of people’s lives. We are committed to the mobilisation of progressive social forces, both religious and non-religious, as part of a democratic struggle to establish such integrated public services. We must deliver for the people of Ireland, north and south, through a unified, integrated all-island health and social care service which is free at the point of use and puts patients first.