Brendan Drumm, the head of the much-maligned Health Service Executive (HSE), wouldn't be human if there weren't times when he wished he had stayed in paediatrics.

But whatever about O'Sullivan . . . who has been in the job for two World Cups and six years and in charge of arguably the most talented group of Irish players ever . . . it is far too early to judge Drumm and his HSE after just two years in the job. And for those in politics, the medical profession and the media who rush to judgement, the obvious question must be: 'What and who is the alternative?'

Eamon O Cuiv was last week merely voicing what many politicians, particularly in Fianna Fail, privately feel about the HSE. But the reality is the majority of politicians' frustrations with the HSE stem from the removal of their overweening influence on the health service that had existed for the previous three decades . . . the very influence that ensured local interests took precedence over the welfare and wellbeing of the nation.

That is not to say the HSE is perfect or anything like it. In PR terms alone, its long delays in providing answers to parliamentary questions was just plain dumb.

But is anybody seriously suggesting the old health boards, chaired by TDs or councillors, amounted to a better system?

Recently, the government announced plans to concentrate cancer surgery in eight specialist hospitals. Although this sensible measure is in line with best practice, don't for a second believe it could or would have happened under the old health boards system, with each board jealously guarding local interests.

It also has to be said that some of the furore generated by the cost freeze introduced in recent weeks is nothing short of ridiculous and, as usual when it comes to the health service, totally lacking in any form of rigorous analysis. Quite how the nursing unions manage to keep a collective straight face by, on the one hand, arguing that it is possible to take 2.9 million hours a year (as part of the reduction to a 37.5-hour week) out of the public system without impacting on patient care, and, on the other, that the failure to replace a couple of hundred staff out of 130,000 will have dire consequences, is truly remarkable to behold.

And why is nobody questioning why eight consultant anaesthetists and 10 registrars between Cavan and Monaghan hospitals are not in a position to provide cover when one of them goes on holidays?

It's also surprising to hear of the dire consequences about to befall Sligo General Hospital at the news that 30 nursing positions used to provide holiday cover in the summer are to be discontinued, given that Waterford Regional Hospital can manage on a nurses-per-bed ratio that is 28% lower than Sligo. But why let the facts get in the way of a good 'health services in crisis' story?

Anybody out there who thinks the problems with the Irish health service start and finish with the HSE is living in cloud-cuckoo land. The BBC's wonderful documentary Can Gerry Robinson fix the NHS? is proof of that. Yes, that programme . . . which involved the Donegalborn businessman attempting to turn around a Yorkshire hospital and cut waiting times . . . was filmed in Britain, but undeniably the issues are the same here.

Robinson did find weak management, but he also came across a series of vested interests . . . consultants, nurses, administrators, etc . . . who were all looking after their own patch and who were highly resistant to change.

If Robinson felt frustrated after his short tenure in one Yorkshire hospital, imagine how Brendan Drumm must feel trying to change the entire Irish health service. It's just plain wrong to believe that can happen in a couple of years.

The reality of the Irish health service is that . . . notwithstanding the tens of thousands of dedicated, highly professional consultants, junior doctors, nurses, etc that work in it . . . the system is geared towards the people who work in it rather than the patient. That is why we are not getting value for the 13.9bn we spend on health each year. If the snail-like pace of the negotiations with the consultants is anything to go by, that will be hard changed.

But the HSE remains the best organisation to continue with the reforms that have begun in recent years.

In his interim report to the British government on the NHS last week, Ara Darzi, a doctor by training, said he had "come to the view that the NHS could benefit from greater distance from the day-to-day thrust of the political process".

After his stint in a Yorkshire hospital, Gerry Robinson, one of the most respected businessmen in Britain, concluded that appointing the best possible managers to run hospitals, paying them really well and giving them real power, was the first step to improving the health service.

He added that getting the right person at the top and eliminating political interference would lead to "amazing" results.

What both Darzi and Robinson are saying is pure common sense. While the criticisms of politicians and consultants must be listened to, it's time we also started questioning their motivations. The time to judge Brendan Drumm is at the end of his five-year contract. In the meantime, he should be allowed get on with the very important job in hand.