4000 attend Health Demo March in Dublin.

[Leftfemme22]

That was a decent turnout but not the 70,000 I read about in certain quarters during the week.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0329/health.html

Is the opposition "spinning" the Health agenda?

Obviously you have not had cause to use the public service of late. Get on down to mass and prey you stay healthy or earn enough to afford private insurance.

No private Health Insurance for me. I already pay PRSI and Income tax. Why pay again to the VHI?

I had a bad chest infection in February. Went to my GP. Got a letter for an xray.
Two days later I walked into Beaumont Hospital at 9am and walked out again at 9.30am with a clear xray and an easy mind.

FKing great service.



ps. havnt been to mass for 20 years.

And how much did it cost you?

[imokyrok]

That was a decent turnout but not the 70,000 I read about in certain quarters during the week.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0329/health.html

Is the opposition "spinning" the Health agenda?

Obviously you have not had cause to use the public service of late. Get on down to mass and prey you stay healthy or earn enough to afford private insurance.
A friend of mine was let go after Christmas in the building sector purge and with his job went his private health cover. His wife became ill and he is in great distress at the treatment (or lack of it) that his wife is now going through.

I wholeheartedly agree Hopi Watcher. I know a woman who was told she couln't be given a walker because she didn't have a medical card. Only when she broke down in tears did the HSE change their mind while stating in writing this was a once of. My experience is that even if you have PHI it is still very difficult to find the money to finance ordinary family health care - and you're terrified not to have PHI because you could literally die waiting for the public version.

To be honest I thought there would be a bigger turn out yesterday and am dissapointed. There seems to be so much outrage about issues like people with CF dying ten tears younger here than in the North and about cancer care etc but yet......

[hiker]

That was a decent turnout but not the 70,000 I read about in certain quarters during the week.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0329/health.html

Is the opposition "spinning" the Health agenda?

Obviously you have not had cause to use the public service of late. Get on down to mass and prey you stay healthy or earn enough to afford private insurance.

No private Health Insurance for me. I already pay PRSI and Income tax. Why pay again to the VHI?

I had a bad chest infection in February. Went to my GP. Got a letter for an xray.
Two days later I walked into Beaumont Hospital at 9am and walked out again at 9.30am with a clear xray and an easy mind.

FKing great service.



ps. havnt been to mass for 20 years.

And how much did it cost you?

GP was a return visit. The anti biotics didnt work. That was €20.00.

X-Ray; no charge (or you could say 6%PRSI and 20% Income Tax)

[Leftfemme22]

That was a decent turnout but not the 70,000 I read about in certain quarters during the week.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0329/health.html

Is the opposition "spinning" the Health agenda?

Obviously you have not had cause to use the public service of late. Get on down to mass and prey you stay healthy or earn enough to afford private insurance.

No private Health Insurance for me. I already pay PRSI and Income tax. Why pay again to the VHI?

I had a bad chest infection in February. Went to my GP. Got a letter for an xray.
Two days later I walked into Beaumont Hospital at 9am and walked out again at 9.30am with a clear xray and an easy mind.

FKing great service.



ps. havnt been to mass for 20 years.

And how much did it cost you?

GP was a return visit. The anti biotics didnt work. That was €20.00.

X-Ray; no charge (or you could say 6%PRSI and 20% Income Tax)

First off, every visit to a GP cost €50/60 whether it is a return visit or not, especially if he/she issues a letter of referral.

Secondly you may not have had to cough up for the x-ray and the radiographer/consultant fees yet but its in the post.

[hiker]

First off, every visit to a GP cost €50/60 whether it is a return visit or not, especially if he/she issues a letter of referral.

Secondly you may not have had to cough up for the x-ray and the radiographer/consultant fees yet but its in the post.

You really dont know what you are talking about, do you?

Yes, my doctor charges a €20.00 fee for a repeat visit with the same complaint.

And No, there is no xray fee in the post.

[Leftfemme22]

First off, every visit to a GP cost €50/60 whether it is a return visit or not, especially if he/she issues a letter of referral.

Secondly you may not have had to cough up for the x-ray and the radiographer/consultant fees yet but its in the post.

You really dont know what you are talking about, do you?

Yes, my doctor charges a €20.00 fee for a repeat visit with the same complaint.

And No, there is no xray fee in the post.

Whats your doctors name.

I actually work in the health service, maybe I'll recommend him to other patients. As for the x-ray fees, yes there is a bill in the post.

Anyone who has used the health system knows this.

[tonys]

Seriously, what was the point of that march?

I can see the strategy in protesting about a particular health issue, like the campaigns against the Hanley report a few years ago.

But a general march for a better health service? What's that going to achieve? Do they think Harney and the government have been ignoring the health issue up to now?

Down with that sort of thing!

Careful now!

etc etc

Some people just like protesting, I guess.

How quickly Green members side with the right-wing government against their former allies and other [color=darkblue]progressives[/color] now that they are in power.

“Progressives”?, Where does this notion of some parties being “progressives” come from?. Who are the anti progressive parties, what do “progressive” parties want to progress? In what direction do they want to “progress” these issues? Is it only moving forward in a particular direction that is accepted as “progressive” or does moving forward in any direction qualify? or as I suspect is it just a meaningless label.
In my opinion & if I’m guessing right, most of those you refer to as “progressives” couldn’t smoothly progress from a Monday to a Tuesday without f..king it up.

[imokyrok]

Having trawled through a few Sundays estimates range from 3000 to 10000. Is there no scientific method for making these estimates?

[Thac0man]

4000 turnout for what was a Union rally should suprise no one.

This was not some spontaneous outpouring of public dis-satisifaction, it was the health workers Unions trying to regain what they have lost - the publics trust. Their alledged concern for patients in A&E and other areas led to stoppages before, but when the dust settled the Unions under Mr. Doran launched a campaign of utterly selfish demands.

They lost public support because they were shown to be liars abusing the publics confidance and the rank and file workers rejected the base greed and deception tactics carried out on their behalf by their own representitives. This march is a pathetic attempt to repair fences, play politics and garner public support before the Unions once again try and break the ceilings of bench marking.

We all know the health service is in crises and we all know that the work practices won by unions have played their part in making progress on improvements near impossible. Six month wiat for an MRI scan in the public service compared to 12 to 24 hours in private? There is no excuse for that. None.

[hiker]

Whats your doctors name.

I actually work in the health service, maybe I'll recommend him to other patients. As for the x-ray fees, yes there is a bill in the post.

Anyone who has used the health system knows this.

Why? Will he get into trouble?

The reason I know there is no bill in the post is that its the second time I have gotten an X-ray in beamont on the back of tax payments alone. I had a damaged wrist last year from lifting and it cost me nothing.

Indeed if you call Beaumont hospital they will give you the times when you can get xrays free of charge with a doctors letter. It happens for two hours twice a week. One is wednesday mornings and the other is, I think, friday mornings. Both between 9am and 11am.

There are great services out there in the health service. No one knows about them because most dont need them, but they are there when you need them.

I know you work in the health service but so do about 200,000 others so I dont expect you to every little service on offer.