This candid examination by campaigner, Irish Heart Foundation founder and former St Vincent's consultant cardiologist Risteárd Mulcahy looks back and forward at the Irish health system and its evolution, current difficulties and probable future state. Is The Health Service for Healing? is an honest and often critical examination of the way the Irish health system has evolved and the difficulties it finds itself in now. As Prof. Risteárd Mulcahy spent most of his professional life as a consultant in St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin he is uniquely placed to comment on the health system's expansion, challenges, achievements and increasingly its numerous difficulties. Ireland's two tier system; the crisis in accident and emergency departments; the medical and nursing professions; the health boards; and local and national government are all examined, discussed and often singled out for critical comments and scrutiny. For anyone within, or with a serious interest in the nation's health and its health system, this book is essential reading.