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Health

Health

Healthcare should be equally accessible and free at the point of access, not dependant on your ability to pay.

There is a plan to fix our broken health service and to achieve universal healthcare. It’s called Sláintecare, it has cross-party agreement, and the Social Democrats were the driving force behind its creation.

The full implementation of the Sláintecare model would be a red line issue for the Social Democrats in any government formation negotiations.

How will Sláintecare work?

Sláintecare sets out a road-map to move from a crisis-driven reactive approach to one that focuses on community care, prevention and equal access for all.

The full implementation of Sláintecare will mean:

  • Enhanced primary care services, free at the point of use
  • Quicker access to public hospitals
  • Community care teams for older people and those with mental health and addiction needs
  • An increase in hospital bed capacity and an end to the trolley crisis
  • Many more doctors, nurses, therapists and public health nurses

Our Healthcare Priorities

  • Ensure a pre-committed funding programme for the full implementation of Sláintecare
  • Establish a National Workforce Taskforce to address the short-term and medium-term needs of the health sector
  • Create a Statutory Homecare Scheme and end the current postcode lottery
  • Improve conditions in the sector to stop emigration of our highly trained staff, and pay parity for workers in the community and voluntary sector
  • A commitment that 10% of the health budget will be devoted to mental health services

Find Out More

You can read more about our policies and plans in our Healthcare policy document, linked below.

Health Policy

'A Health Service: As you need it, when you need it'

View Policy