Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Mon 04 Apr 2007Greens promise 2,000 extra hospital bedsGreen Party: health policy:Green Party chairman John Gormley has forecast that it will win more than eight seats and be in government after the general election.Mr Gormley was speaking at the launch of the party's policy document on hospitals and funding yesterday yesterday. The party is promising some 2,000 extra acute hospital beds and a similar number of step down beds if in power after the election. Mr Gormley, who is health spokesman, also promised another 1,500 hospital consultants; extra staff to combat hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA, more medical cards and more transparency from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) in terms of the payments it makes to private hospitals to take public patients off waiting lists. It would subsume the NTPF into the Health Service Executive (HSE).