OVER THE PAST month, The Journal has been looking at various different aspects of the healthcare system in Ireland. 

The country’s health system has long been under pressure.

Some progress and changes are underway with the rollout of Sláintecare, which is five years into its ambitious plan to move Ireland away from a two-tier system and towards a system based on medical need. But as we saw from new polling during the month, patients may not be seeing enough positive changes yet. 

A poll, conducted by Ireland Thinks/The Good Information Project, found that almost two-thirds of people said Ireland’s healthcare system is getting worse.

Just 7% of respondents said services are getting better. 

The poll also found that people without insurance, women and those on lower incomes were most likely to say services are worsening when asked about the current state of services provided in Ireland now compared to five years ago.

Despite most people saying that services were worsening, responses were split when asked about their own experiences with the healthcare system.

30% of people said their experience with the system had been good while 26% said it was poor. 

Hearing from people about their own experiences within the system – both good and bad – formed a major part of The Good Information Project’s work on healthcare. 

We asked people to respond in an open thread with one change they would like to see in the Irish healthcare system. You can read the responses to that thread in the comments of this article. 

We also asked healthcare workers and those familiar with the sector what one change they would like to see in the health service.

This elicited a range of responses, from better access to GPs, improved working conditions for healthcare staff and fairer access to medical training for doctors from outside the EU. 

Patients were at the core of the focus in our reporting. We wanted to keep the patient’s perspective at the heart of our coverage – which is what led to the Open Newsroom discussion on the power of patient advocacy. 

Moderator Maria Delaney, investigative health and science reporter at Noteworthy, led a discussion on where health services were letting patients down.

The panel talked about what needs to happen to draw upon the experiences of users of Ireland’s healthcare system and include them in the creation and implementation of change and policy in the sector.

Maria further recently reported on overcrowding in the hospital system with a special focus on University Hospital Limerick which consistently has the highest number of people on trolleys. 

Journal Media Managing Editor Susan Daly also spoke to the director of the European Institute of Women’s Health about what it takes to change a healthcare system to make it equitable and accessible.

Peggy Maguire spoke about a range of topics including the historic absence of women and older people in clinical trials, campaigns to tailored recognition of women’s symptoms in cardiovascular disease and a woman’s right to information.

Healthcare encompasses so many parts of everyday life. We looked at how climate change is likely to impact people’s health in Ireland. Another piece looked at frustration over the stigma and lack of resources for obesity treatment in Ireland. 

A junior doctor shared their experience working extremely long shifts, while GPs described the increased pressure they are under right now. 

Healthcare professionals also discussed what pushed them to leave Ireland and work abroad. 

The Journal further examined whether Ireland relies too much on mental health charities and the voluntary sector to provide services. 

It’s clear there are a still a lot of voices to hear from when it comes to Ireland’s healthcare system – and a lot more action to be taken before people feel more optimistic about the essential services they receive.

This work is also co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work are the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.