Helping Clare people live longer and healthier lives
A FINE Gael plan to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase access to disability services will enable generations of Clare people to live longer and healthier lives.
That’s according to Clare Fine Gael General Election candidate Leonora Carey who said that her party’s commitment to introduce multi-annual budgets will give predictability, enable better planning, end the cycle of overspends and improve health outcomes.
Included in the Fine Gael healthcare strategy are commitments to:
*Open new primary care centres and help dentists, pharmacists and GPs to deliver more care locally.
*Deliver thousands of new beds, six surgical hubs, four elective hospitals and hire tens of thousands of new staff increasing capacity to access care more quickly.
*Reduce healthcare costs by providing free GP care to under 18s, cutting the monthly cost of drugs to €50, making contraception free to women over 35 years and abolishing the prescription charge.
*Make cancer care and disability supports priorities for delivery of healthcare, while developing a Women’s Health Programme in general practice.
*Increase capacity and enhance access so that disability services can be delivered in a timelier way. This will be achieved by increasing the number of college places in vital therapies and increasing the number of therapy posts.
*Expand residential places, day service places and enhance respite services.
*Continue to provide funding to access private assessments of need for families and extend this to enable access to therapies and mental health supports.
*Appoint a Minister of State to represent the interests of older people.
*Introduce a permanent annual cost of disability payment, beginning at €500 and progressively increase the weekly Disability Allowance payment to at least €300 over the lifetime of Government.
*Publish a national action plan on long term care to ensure we have the right mix of care available, and that access is comprehensive and affordable.
*Introduce a statutory homecare scheme.
*Publish a successor to the National Drugs Strategy, expanding community drug services, supporting drug and alcohol taskforces and providing ongoing support for individuals in recovery.
Leonora Carey continued: “Fine Gael will continue to implement Sláintecare so everyone in Clare can access the care they need when they need it. Fine Gael’s proposed multi-annual health funding model will give certainty to patients and to our healthcare professionals.
“Ireland has one of the highest life expectancies in Europe, with significant improvements in mortality rates contributing to this achievement. Fine Gael is committed to protecting these gains by ensuring a renewed focus on preventative health and continuing to increase care in every community around the country, so that we continue to live longer, healthier lives,” Ms Carey concluded.