Health system facing collapse, says White
Junior Health Minister Alex White has said that the health system faces collapse if it does not change fundamentally.
Minister White has told the Labour Party conference that the health service cannot cut spending much more than it already has.
He said that the current system could disintegrate if it is not overhauled to cope with its reduced level of funding.
He says the Government must now urgently overhaul the system.
"If we fail now, to plan really fundamental change in the organisation of healthcare, our system, I think, will collapse," he said.
"It will collapse because of the sheer pressure of demand associated with the consequences of unchecked chronic illnesses, and it will collapse, literally because it won't be possible to finance it if we continue with the current model."
