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Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said that the disgracefully high number of patients on hospital trolleys can only be tackled once and for all with the wholesale overhaul of our health system as set out in the Sláintecare reform plan. Deputy Shortall said: “The summer is barely over and already we have record […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has called on the Minister for Health to provide assurances about the independent clinical governance of the new National Maternity Hospital. Deputy Shortall said: “It is reassuring to learn that the Department of Health is close to finalising an agreement that means the new hospital building will be owned […]

According to Social Democrats co-leader, Róisín Shortall TD, “today’s shocking hospital waiting lists of 687,000 people are a new record and represent a huge failing on the part of Government.  Providing a decent health service where people can get timely treatment, on the basis of need, is a basic requirement of any civilised country.  Yet […]

The HSE computer glitch which has potentially affected some 25,000 patients was an avoidable mistake that could have been caught earlier had the right systems been in place, the Social Democrats said today. Galway West candidate, Niall Ó Tuathail, who is a health reform adviser with the NHS, said: “This flaw was an avoidable mistake. […]

The mixing of private incentive and public interest at the heart of our health system creates an ungovernable twilight zone, Róisín Shortall TD will tell the MacGill Summer School tonight. Deputy Shortall chaired the cross-party Committee on the Future of Healthcare which recently produced a 10-year blueprint for reform of the health service, called Sláintecare […]

A critical HSE audit into financial practices at the National Maternity Hospital highlights everything that is wrong with our public-private healthcare model, according to Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall. Deputy Shortall was commenting on a HSE audit which found that the publicly-funded National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street subsidised the cash flow of a semi-private […]

Today’s Summer Economic Statement is another squandered opportunity by the government to deal with the enormous pressures facing our economy and society, the Social Democrats said today. The party’s co-leader Róisín Shortall TD said the setting up of a Rainy Day Fund at a time the housing, health and childcare needs of so many people […]

The Government must immediately address the funding shortage in home-care if its late conversion to the Right to Home-Care is to be believed, said Social Democrats T.D. Róisín Shortall. In advance of the Dáil debate on the Nursing Home Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2016, Ms. Shortall said that services for older people have been neglected for […]