Annual Conference 2008
"Who Pays? Access and Equity in the Irish Healthcare System"
25th September, 2008
Date: Thursday 25th September 2008
Venue: Joly Theatre, Hamilton Building, Trinity College, Dublin
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Closing date for receipt of registration forms is now Friday, 19th September, 2008.
Purpose and theme of conference
Access to Irish health services has become a growing concern for policy makers as well as service-users and healthcare professionals. The Irish Social Policy’s Association’s 2008 conference aims to address the issue of access and equity in the Irish healthcare system. The purpose of the conference is to explore the structural, cultural and financial barriers to healthcare in Ireland from a social policy perspective and to identify methods of improving access from research and best practice elsewhere. The conference will bring together some of the best Irish and international experts on healthcare, including Prof Richard Wilkinson, Prof Dale Tussing, Prof Charles Normand, to discuss equity in and access to Irish healthcare services.
The keynote speaker, Richard Wilkinson, is Professor of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham in the UK. He is a leading researcher in social inequalities in health and the social determinants of health in the UK. His most recent book, The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier, explores the connection between society and health inequality.
Dale Tussing, Prof of Economics at Syracuse University, has written extensively on Irish health care for 25 years. His most recent book, How Ireland Cares: The Case for Health Care Reform, co-written with Maev-Ann Wren, analyses the many problems afflicting Irish health care.
Charles Normand is Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. He has published widely on health economics, and, together with Stephen Thomas and Samantha Smith, wrote the report Social Health Insurance: Further Options for Ireland for The Adelaide Hospital Society. Prof Normand’s paper outlines the benefits of a universal social health insurance system, which would ensure equal access to medical care for every citizen based upon medical need, rather than financial means.
Other speakers include Dr Austin O’Carroll, a Dublin-based GP, who will discuss the issue of access to primary care in Ireland; Dr Vivienne Byers, Lecturer in Health Policy and Management, DIT, who will speak about Participation and Planning in Healthcare. The conference will close with a discussion and question and answer session with all of the conference speakers, chaired by Dr Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive Officer of the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (DMMC), and author of Health, Medicine and Politics in Ireland 1900-1970.