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Letters to Times re Caring for hospital patients
(from the Irish Times >) Mary Butler: “In particular, her attack on psychiatric services “medieval fiefdoms . . . run by doctors” was outrageous.” Audrey Dillon: “As doctors, our main concern and...
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Austerity is devastating health, say researchers
Detailing a decade of research, Oxford University political economist David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu, an assistant professor of medicine and an epidemiologist at Stanford University, said their...
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Pharmacists criticise lack of vision
There is no national vision for pharmacy in the health service, with many practitioners feeling “stuck” with regard to career progression, according to a report commissioned by the regulator for the...
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Mental health services need long-overdue cultural and structural revamp
In 2013, mental health services are still staffed at 24 per cent below the level recommended in A Vision for Change . Mental Health Reform has high expectations of what can be achieved through the role...
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Cancer facilities for the young still a scandal: ex-patient
I’m lucky, I live a life that I love living, with friends that I love being around. It took me a while, after all my treatments, to adapt to just living and behaving in a normal manner again. But I...
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Times editorial: A strategy to stop suicide
Mental health budgets were cut in recent decades. And while various plans and health initiatives have since appeared, necessary funding and staffing were not provided. It can take up to three months to...
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Beds go unused at teen psychiatric units due to staff shortages
Vulnerable youngsters are being turned away from psychiatric units with room to care for them because of staff shortages, the Dáil heard. Sinn Féin TD Jonathan O’Brien raised concerns that beds were...
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HSE introduces system changes in wake of Savita Halappanavar inquest
The introduction of an early warning system and educating staff about septic shock are now under way. Tony Canavan, chief operating officer of the Galway-Roscommon Hospital Group, said the HSE had...
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Initiatives to support those living with dementia
A Memory Resource Room where people concerned about memory loss can talk to health professionals is just one of a number of North Cork initiatives designed to support dementia patients and their...
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Jacky Jones: New hospital structures do not necessarily mean better health...
Assigning Ireland’s 49 acute hospitals to six new groups will probably make a difference to patient outcomes. Unfortunately, with the exception of cancer, no one knows what these outcomes will be...
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Surgery waiting lists soar as A&Es come under pressure
THE number of public patients waiting for over a year to be admitted to hospital for surgery has risen dramatically this year – up from just 36 in December to 931 at the end of May. The hospitals that...
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HSE overspending threatens recruitment of promised mental health staff
Money set aside this year for the recruitment of hundreds of staff for mental health services is at risk as a result of overspending in the rest of the health sector, unpublished documents show. The...
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After the Asylum: Michelle
Dr Barbara Dooley, Headstrong’s director of research and senior lecturer at UCD school of psychology, says the figures underline the urgency of providing services to these young people. “We must see...
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Brendan Kelly on mental health services
The adverse effects of these economic and societal factors, along with the stigma of mental illness, constitute a form of “structural violence” which amplifies the effects of mental illness in the...
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Staff cuts mean services in Waterford hospital are suffering
Elective surgery is down to less than half of normal levels at Waterford Regional Hospital (WRH) in recent weeks, while up to 30 inpatient beds remain closed as management do not have the nurses to...
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Keith Swanick on community-based GP services
Sir, –Minister for Health James Reilly is severely compromising community-based GP services throughout Ireland. By further cutting funding to general practice, the HSE and the Minister of Health are...
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Home birth midwife Ann Ó Ceallaigh: claims ideological opposition to home...
After 16 years of battling against the medical establishment, numerous trips to the High and Supreme Courts, a few notable triumphs and a final crushing defeat, home birth midwife Ann Ó Ceallaigh is...
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No cardiac unit has enough staff, study reveals: Irish Heart Foundation
Not one cardiac unit in the country has enough staff to provide an aftercare service to those recovering from heart attacks that is credited with cutting death rates by up to 25%. According to a study...
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Times editorial: Paying for health services
Criticism of the planned investigation has come from the Irish Medical Organisation, from pharmacists and from nursing home owners. All of these groups benefit directly or indirectly from an opaque...
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Lynch reiterates commitment to mental health services
Minister of State with responsibility for mental health Kathleen Lynch has said she has a guarantee that the additional €15 million dropped from investment in mental health services in 2014 will be...
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