Cervical Check Scandal- Public Should Punish Parties Who Began To Privatise Our Public Health System

People Before Profit’s Dublin candidate for the European Elections Gillian Brien has said the establishment parties that have presided over the creeping privatisation of the Irish Health system should be punished by the electorate in the upcoming local and European Elections.

She said that public patients waiting up to seven months for their repeat smear test results from the Cervical Check scandals as oppose to patients paying privately who received their results in two weeks is a clear example of how the privatisation of the health system has failed women in this country.

She said: “The logic of privatisation means that people with money get treated before anyone else. This has emerged here regarding the smear retests where women who cannot afford to pay for private health care. They are being treated in an extremely cruel way.

“The privatisation agenda of our public health service and Cervical Check which has been presided over by Mary Harney, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour over successive governments has been a disaster for public health patients and staff.

“Revelations that public patients are having to wait over half a year for their smear retest results to come back is an absolute disgrace. The fact that patients who are able to pay privately are able to get the results in a couple of weeks shows us how much damage has been done to the public health system by successive governments.

“With 8 weeks to go until the local and European elections and a general election around the corner I think that the public should punish those parties that have been in power and privatised large parts of our health service.”