Parts of the health service still function like a workers’ co-op
The HSE is powerless to push reform in face of productivity deals negotiated nationally
T his year began with a bang – for the health minister, that is.
Leo Varadkar was accused of being AWOL as the number of patients on trolleys in emergency departments peaked at 600 in early January. “Who’s in charge of this mess?” ran a headline in one of the tabloids, which helpfully elaborated: “Health Minister suns himself in Miami as trolley crisis worsens.”
Varadkar returned home and told the nation he was ...
