Madam, - I refer to the article by Prof Brendan Drumm (June 13th) on shifting the emphasis to community services as the key to providing a sustainable health service. I agree wholeheartedly with Prof Drumm and I find it incredible that medical professionals do not look at the alternatives to admitting a person to an acute bed.
As a taxpayer, I am annoyed at the finding that four out of every 10 patients who were being cared for in an acute bed on a particular day could have been treated in an alternative and more appropriate setting, most of them at home.
My father, who is 78, lives at home and receives a Homecare Package from the HSE. He is a classic case of someone who is receiving appropriate care in an appropriate environment, his own home. If other healthcare professionals and consultants took a leaf out of Prof Drumm's book and focused on the future and not on protecting the past we might have a better and more appropriate health service. - Yours, etc,
TONY SHAW, Clancy Strand, Limerick.