Madam, – Mary Harney did what she always does when her policies are shown to fail – she sought to blame someone else. Responding to the criticism of her department contained in the report on the treatment of the elderly compiled by Ombudsman and Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly, she stated, “The Government was not aware of any country in the world where health and personal social services are provided without some form of prioritisation which reflects the reality of resource limitations” (Home News, November 10th).
If the Minister is telling us that she is informed by what other countries do when she is formulating policy, could she tell us what other countries operate the discriminatory two-tier system that she oversees?
With all the taxpayers’ money that the Minister spends on spin doctors and advisers it is strange that she seems to have no-one to give her the simple and sound advice that it is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Madam, – How refreshing it was to see Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly challenge the Minister for Health in relation to obstructions the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health put in the way of her office as it investigated the Government’s unacceptable disregard for the law when it failed to provide nursing home care for those who needed it.
In her latest report, our ombudsman accused the department of “obstruction and hindrance” of her investigation and says the Minister’s intervention in the matter was unprecedented. Honesty, courage and fearlessness are exactly what this nation needs from our independent ombudsman.
As a health campaigner for six years, I have received anonymous calls regarding the ill-treatment of patients, anonymous e-mails begging us to highlight an issue, and medical staff wanting to expose horrors, but terrified to speak out for fear of retribution. Our systems are rank with fear and so are breeding grounds for injustice and injury.
To see the Minister and her Government held to account and exposed for their blatant disregard for the ombudsman and her office was miraculous. Today for the first time in a long time I felt a sense of hope, hope that while we have Emily O’Reilly as our ombudsman, for once something just might change in our chaotic and tragic health system. – Yours, etc,