Madam, - One wonders if the untimely death of Susie Long will change anything; past experience tells us not. However, two letters in Wednesday's edition shed light on two aspects which demand attention. One exhorts the unions to support the campaign by Patients Together for a better health service. Will this include a review of work practices to improve efficiency? Will it also include a co-operative review by unions and management of administrative staffing in an over-bureaucratic behemoth?
Another letter rightly takes issue with our esteemed leader's comment on Susie Long's death. Mr Ahern's reaction is an insult to the memory of Susie Long. It wilfully ignores the injustice she suffered by choosing to put her faith in the public health system. Health and education should be seen as a human right and an investment by the taxpaying public in the future well-being of the country. They are not assets to be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Both unions and management need to overcome their mutual mistrust and build an efficient health system that does not require the prop of private interference to provide decent healthcare for all. - Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork.
Madam, - Fergal Molloy is right to say there is a link between the proceedings of the Mahon tribunal and the death of Susie Long. The tribunal shows quite clearly that the monies paid by business people, be it in the form of handouts, loans, gifts or political donations, are a significant factor in determining what issues are given priority by our politicians.
Mr Ahern has been in power longer than any other Irish politician and he has had at his disposal enormous amounts of tax revenue. These two facts alone make him the most powerful politician this country has seen. Had he decided to make our public health service a priority he undoubtedly could have made a difference. He has chosen not to prioritise health and the result has been the unnecessary and avoidable death of Susie Long and, most likely, many others like her.
Mr Ahern has been given much credit for his role in the peace process and the question must be asked why has he distanced himself from the problems besetting the health service.
Had Susie Long died as a result of a terrorist incident, there would have been outrage and our political leaders would have promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. Instead, Mr Ahern describes her death as unfortunate.
Preventing the deaths of people like Susie Long would not attract the acclaim of the international community, as has the peace process. It certainly would not attract political donations, as creating a thriving environment for the business sector does; and, clearly, it is not necessary to enable Mr Ahern to win elections.
Preventing these deaths is, however, a moral responsibility that comes with leadership. It is time that Mr Ahern was held to account for abandoning his moral responsibility. For a growing number of ordinary people, Mr Ahern's true legacy, after 10 years in power, is the manner in which he has washed his hands of responsibility for the death of all the Susie Longs who have suffered and found premature death in his public health service. - Yours, etc,
Gearóid Ó Dubháin, Mount Oval Village, Rochestown, Cork.
Madam, - Denis Costello (October 24th) attributes Susie Long's premature death to the fact that "nobody had sufficient clout to pressurise the hospital to treat her as an emergency case".
He goes on to blithely suggest that we need a health system better able to identify emergencies. Exactly such a system would negate the need for influential "pull" in accessing necessary, life-saving services in the first place. - Yours, etc,
ANNE CAHILL, Laurel Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.