The proper funding of health care, the best system, the balance between Private and Public finance is intensely argued.

Very few people have enough money to pay for catastrophic major illness, an ageing population dying slowly with chronic disease needs much care, replacement therapy over several years and this too is very expensive.

Should people be prepared to pay for certain procedures, for extra facilities in the hospital hotel?

Should they pay for the convenience of seeing a doctor of their choice when they wish or does this mean than someone else is denied any care or less care? Should all care be on the basis of need and not ability to pay?

The questions and the answers are the stuff of Politics and political choice, dogma, doctrine………

Health systems consume very large sums and ever increasing sums of money and as they spend between 5 and 15% of the Gross National product there will inevitably be a major political dimension.