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News: October 2007

UniPhar claims HSE is 'misleading' public

Sandra Ryan | 26 October 2007 | Public Health

The row between pharmacists and the Health Service Executive (HSE) over methadone stoppage intensified last week, with the HSE accused of making “misleading” statements about the problem by UniPhar, one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical wholesalers. Alternate methods of methadone... Read more

HSE did not discriminate against doctor

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

The Health Service Executive (HSE) did not discriminate against a doctor who unsuccessfully applied for a post as a consultant anaesthetist, an Equality Tribunal has found. Dr Padraig Sheeran claimed that HSE West discriminated against him on the grounds of... Read more

Doctor slams State-subsidised healthcare

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Private Healthcare

Roughly 50,000 patients have been treated in Vhi SwiftCare Clinics since the first clinic opened two years ago. The new clinic in Swords, Vhi’s third, was opened by the Minister for Health last week and is already recording up to... Read more

Public hospitals will face Christmas crisis over locum shortage

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Public hospitals could face a crisis in December as a result of the Health Service Executive's (HSE's) non-provision of locum cover, as NCHDs are threatening to use all their annual leave before the end of the year, Irish Medical Times... Read more

Rise in number of seniors availing of medical cards

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Public Health

The number of medical card patients aged 70 years and over has steadily increased, with nearly 9,000 more people in this age bracket last year than the year before. The latest statistics from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) show... Read more

New Zealand: Direct-to-consumer advertising will harm public

BMJ 2007;335:694-695 | 26 October 2007 | Foreign News, Public Health

Allowing the drug industry to supply information on prescription medicines direct to patients in Europe will have serious implications for health, according to health experts in New Zealand. The warning comes as the European parliament is considering allowing the drug... Read more

Medical Council is still waiting for volunteers to finish pilot GP project

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | General Practice

Many of the doctors who have volunteered for the Medical Council’s Professional Practice Review Pilot Project have not completed the process, and the council is urging them to do so before the cut-off date of 4 November. Those who do... Read more

Doctor wins right to open own pharmacy

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Planning and Development

Part of a medical centre in Ballinasloe is to be turned into a pharmacy after the applicant for the proposed development appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Dr Eugene O’Beirne applied to Ballinasloe Town Council for permission to make the change... Read more

Coordinators needed to increase donations

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Public Health

Ireland could increase organ donor numbers by 50 per cent if it had a full-time organ coordinator in every hospital, the CEO of the Irish Kidney Association has told Irish Medical Times. Mr Mark Murphy said that having a fully-trained... Read more

'Outrageous claim' by HSE says IHCA

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has accused the Health Service Executive (HSE) of an “outrageous claim” that only six patients awaiting orthopaedic procedures in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, would have wait longer following closure of the unit and claims... Read more

BCG vaccine not available until 2008

Sandra Ryan | 26 October 2007 | Public Health

The BCG vaccine may not be available until January 2008 due to “regulatory difficulties” with the Danish manufacturer of the vaccine, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed. “This is a Europe-wide problem as the manufacturer in question is the... Read more

Work rule may disrupt maternity services

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Industrial Relations, Private Healthcare

Restricting the private practice of maternity hospital consultants to 20 per cent of their workload will have immediate implications, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned. The union’s Director of Industrial Relations, Mr Fintan Hourihan, said the issue was raised... Read more

Hospitals say no locum cover for pregnant NCHDs

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

At least three hospitals in Cork and Kerry have stated they will not provide locum cover for pregnant NCHDs, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said. Mr Fintan Hourihan, Director of Industrial Relations with the union, said the IMO had... Read more

Therapists' dispute impacts development

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Further delays in deciding how much family therapists should be paid could jeopardise the development of the profession in the Republic, the trade union IMPACT has warned. It made the statement during a submission to the Labour Court in relation... Read more

Tribunals revoke 12 per cent of detentions

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

About 12 per cent of mental health tribunals result in an involuntary detention order being revoked, according to the latest figures available from the Mental Health Commission. Between the beginning of November last year, when the Mental Health Act 2001... Read more

China: Organ harvesting of inmates ban

26 October 2007 | Foreign News

The Chinese Medical Association has agreed that organs of prisoners and other individuals in custody must not be used for transplantation, except for members of their immediate family. The Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Medical Association, Dr... Read more

Denmark: Doctors must report cases of torture

26 October 2007 | Foreign News

The World Medical Association (WMA) has issued new guidelines to doctors designed to encourage them to become more active in documenting cases of torture they come across. At its recent annual general assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark, the WMA said physicians... Read more

UK: Patients must get quicker acute care

26 October 2007 | Foreign News

Patients with acute illness should get immediate access to the front-line of acute medical services, and out-of-hours diagnostic facilities should be expanded to support acute care, a new report has urged. The report, by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient... Read more

Global AIDS response could cost $58 billion

26 October 2007 | Foreign News

A new report from UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS, suggests that financing the global response to AIDS could cost between US$14 and $58 billion. The report, entitled Financial Resources Required to Achieve Universal Access to HIV Prevention,... Read more

Surgeon in the North East gets €300,000 in damages

Ed Madden | 26 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

Mr Ibrahim Ahmed was appointed by the then North Eastern Health Board as a locum consultant surgeon at Louth County Hospital and commenced duty on 14 August 2000. Initially, his employment was for a period of less than two months,... Read more

Finance Dept to decide if patient unit makes 'economic sense'

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

Plans for a three-story, 120-bed unit at St Vincent’s University Hospital for patients who need isolation is under review by the department of Finance, Irish Medical Times has learned. IMT understands that the new building, which will provide 120 en-suite... Read more

Anorexia/obesity — major contributors to osteoporosis

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Public Health

Girls are becoming anorexic at an increasingly young age, and as a result are developing osteopenia– a milder phase of decreased bone density– and osteoporosis at an alarmingly early stage in life. Additionally, increased obesity in boys and girls is... Read more

TDs sceptical on BreastCheck roll-out

Sandra Ryan | 26 October 2007 |

The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has confirmed that the cervical screening programme will be rolled out this coming January, although opposition TDs are sceptical that the deadline will be met. Deputy Jan O’Sullivan (Limerick East), the Labour spokesperson on... Read more

Doctor gives up on HSE but fights on for Crumlin

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

One of Ireland’s most influential doctors, and a leading paediatric oncologist, is retiring five years early because of exhaustion and frustration with the Health Service Executive’s (HSE’s) “dictatorial” approach to healthcare reform. Dr Fin Breatnach, who began working at Crumlin... Read more

When right did not overcome might

Greg Baxter | 26 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

Decisions are being made– both politically and clinically – that are not in the best interests of children, according to one of Ireland’s leading paediatric oncologists, on the brink of his early retirement. Dr Fin Breatnach is retiring five years... Read more

Time to regulate plastic surgery

Sandra Ryan | 26 October 2007 | Regulation

Right now in Ireland, cosmetic surgery– from Botox to weight-loss surgery such as gastric banding– is completely unregulated. There is no legislation to set standards and ensure the safety of the thousands of procedures carried out in private clinics and... Read more

GPs do more work for less

Ian McGuinness | 26 October 2007 | General Practice

It would be easy to list the doctors who earned the most from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) last year, or indeed the amount of money paid out by that section of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to GPs... Read more

Healthcare awards in Shelbourne this week

19 October 2007 |

The prizes for the Irish Healthcare Awards will be handed out at a special ceremony in the Great Room of the magnificently renovated Shelbourne Hotel on Wednesday, 24 October. The ceremony, hosted by RTÉ news anchor Bryan Dobson, will follow... Read more

Cervical cancer vaccine recommended for boys

Sandra Ryan | 19 October 2007 | Public Health

A leading UK expert on women’s health has said the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer should be given to 12-year-old boys as well as girls, in order to get ‘herd’ immunity and to stop the message that responsibility for preventing... Read more

HSE hires front-line staff despite freeze

Greg Baxter | 19 October 2007 | Health Management

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has established a small group designed to approve new front-line posts on a limited basis during the recruitment freeze, the Minister for Health has said. Ms Mary Harney said the HSE recognises that there are... Read more

HSE sells its land at bargain prices

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Health Management

The fact that the Health Service Executive (HSE) and its predecessors were selling land at way below its valued level was flagged by Irish Medical Times over three years ago. Now the Audited Appropriation Accounts 2006 from the Office of... Read more

Have we reached the final hurdle?

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Consultant contract negotiations have been dragging on for years and there may be more to come yet. Nonetheless, earlier this month the Chairman of the negotiations, Mr Mark Connaughton issued his final report to both sides. So what does his... Read more

Is eradication just around the corner?

Sandra Ryan | 19 October 2007 | Interviews, Public Health

The advent of two new cervical cancer vaccines means screening may not be necessary in 10-years’ time. If young girls (and boys) are vaccinated against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), the cancer-causing agent, the next generation of women could be... Read more

Canada: Doctors acquitted of negligence in HIV blood distribution trial

19 October 2007 | Foreign News, Medico-Legal

Four Canadian doctors and a US pharmaceutical company have been acquitted in court of negligence in the distribution of blood contaminated with HIV in Canada’s worst health scandal, AFP has reported. It was the first criminal trial in a case... Read more

Singapore: Restrictive powers sought to prevent disease spread

19 October 2007 | Foreign News, Public Health

Singapore's health ministry is seeking sweeping powers to combat the spread of infectious diseases such as influenza, including the power to restrict people’s movements, news reports have claimed. Closing infectious premises and declaring certain areas off-limits in the event of... Read more

UK: NHS wards to close to stop MRSA

19 October 2007 | Foreign News, Public Health

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced that a new health regulator will have the power to close hospital wards as part of a new drive to fight hospital infections. “I am setting out how we will equip the new regulator... Read more

Nigeria: Polio vaccine is cause of outbreak

19 October 2007 | Foreign News, Public Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that a polio outbreak in Nigeria that left at least 69 children paralysed was caused by the vaccine designed to stop it. The outbreak was caused by the live polio virus that is... Read more

Irish doctor performs life-saving operation on baby in utero

19 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

A consultant in the Children’s University Hospital, Temple St is the first in the country to perform a life-saving procedure on a baby still in its mother’s womb. Ms Helena Rowley, consultant Otolaryngologist, operated on a baby using the Ex-Utero... Read more

Majority of under 12s placed in adult care

Greg Baxter | 19 October 2007 | Public Health

A report on children in residential care facilities found that their placements had more to do with limited resources than their best interests. The report on the inspection of the placement of children aged 12 and under in residential care... Read more

UK: NICE decision on Alzheimer's drug prescribing still stands

Sandra Ryan | 19 October 2007 | Foreign News

A decision by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK to restrict the prescribing of a drug, Aricept, to treat Alzheimer’s disease could affect its use in Ireland, although no review has yet been requested by the... Read more

HSE maps spend of €830,000 on Atlas

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Health Management

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is spending over €800,000 on a project known as Health Atlas Ireland. The initiative has been described as one whose aim is to “enable web-based mapping of health related data on a national basis”. It... Read more

Circulation of GP cards stagnates

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Public Health

The number of additional GP-only cards stagnated in the last month while the issuing of full medical cards continues unabated. The latest figures on medical cards in circulation show that only an extra 59 of the GP-only variety were issued... Read more

Watchdog blood database set up

Greg Baxter | 19 October 2007 | Health Management

A database has been established to gather information on an ongoing basis from patients who are infected by hepatitis C through blood or blood products in Ireland. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) last week launched the National Hepatitis C... Read more

Mentally ill are deemed unfit for health careers

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 |

A majority of people do not believe that people with mental health problems should be allowed to be doctors or nurses or do important jobs, a Health Service Executive survey has revealed. Mental Health in Ireland: Awareness and Attitudes found... Read more

Crumlin Hospital seeks A&E overhaul

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Planning and Development

Crumlin Hospital is to demolish and extend its A&E unit. The hospital applied to Dublin City Council earlier this month for permission to develop the unit, which is close to the main hospital entrance. When it is rebuilt, if its... Read more

Nursing provider to facilitate HSE

Greg Baxter | 19 October 2007 | Health Management

The Health Service Executive is in talks with a private provider of community specialist nursing and infusion services. Point of Care, which is seeking to provide outsourced specialist nursing services in the community, will open its first clinic in Dublin... Read more

Poor women failing to take up GP card

Sandra Ryan | 19 October 2007 | Public Health

Women on low incomes, in debt and with poor health are not aware they could be entitled to a GP-only card, new research shows. The Women’s Health Council and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) did the study of... Read more

Healthcare spending up compared with last year

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Health Management

Over €1.4 billion more has been spent on healthcare by the Government in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period for 2006. This year €9.253 billion was spent from the beginning of January until the... Read more

Hospitals join up for excellence

Greg Baxter | 19 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

The Mercy University and South Infirmary-Victoria University hospitals in Cork will amalgamate into a single university hospital. The move is in part motivated by the need to protect the expertise in the institutions in a context of increased centralisation, particularly... Read more

Heroin addicts' service withdrawn

Sandra Ryan | 19 October 2007 | Public Health

The decision by over 140 pharmacists in Dublin to stop dispensing methadone has been heavily criticised by the Health Service Executive (HSE), which has arranged 11 sites where emergency methadone services are being provided. “There was no justification for any... Read more

Contract talks continue without mediation

Greg Baxter | 19 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Consultants and management will meet for contract talks without mediation for the first time since 1997 following the decision by independent talks Chairman Mr Mark Connaughton to distance himself from negotiations. While Mr Connaughton continues to be available for finalisation... Read more

Where do the patients go?– asks Mental Health Commission

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Public Health

The Mental Health Commission is asking psychiatric services to give details about the institutions into which their patients are being discharged. Irish Medical Times understands a questionnaire has been sent to approved mental health institutions, asking them to state what... Read more

Legal entanglements amount to €64.5 million

Ian McGuinness | 19 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

Nearly €64.5 million was spent on commissions and inquiries by the Department of Health between 1999 and the start of 2007, it has been revealed. The single largest expenditure was on the blood tribunal, officially known as the Tribunal of... Read more

Burma: Health spending below recommended levels

12 October 2007 | Foreign News

A report from Save the Children has claimed among the massive social and economic problems that led to recent pro-democracy protests in Burma is the fact that at least one third of all children in the country are malnourished and... Read more

Poland: Patients are evacuated in hospital strike

12 October 2007 | Foreign News

News agency reports said managers of a hospital in southern Poland evacuated some 40 seriously ill patients recently to ensure that they would receive adequate medical care after doctors resigned in a pay dispute. A total of 84 of 173... Read more

Cancer pain relief in short supply

12 October 2007 | Foreign News

A new report released to mark the third annual World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on 6 October has claimed that 80 per cent of the world’s cancer sufferers do not have access to pain relief. In addition, seven per... Read more

Americans more likely to be treated for disease

12 October 2007 | Foreign News

Americans are more likely than Europeans to be treated for preventable chronic diseases caused by obesity and smoking, adding more than US$100 billion a year to US health spending, a study reported by Bloomberg claimed. The study, in the Journal... Read more

The final tally on health spending

Ian McGuinness | 12 October 2007 | Health Management

When it comes to health spending, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s annual report for 2006 concentrates on problems with the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) information and communication technology spending. It is hardly surprising that Mr John Purcell should zone in... Read more

Politicians meeting HSE waste their time

Greg Baxter | 12 October 2007 | Health Management

Regular meetings between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and politicians who have questions about the health service are regarded as “a complete waste of time” by the deputies who attend them, said Deputy Michael D. Higgins (Labour-Galway West). He also... Read more

Prof warns of implications of Medical Act

Greg Baxter | 12 October 2007 | Regulation

The Health Minister’s power to shape the policy of the Medical Council is the most worrying part of the Medical Practitioner’s Act, Prof Ivana Bacik told the AGM of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA). Prof Bacik, Reid Professor of... Read more

Harney's vision for health

Terence Cosgrave | 12 October 2007 | Health Management

Minster for Health Mary Harney has warned that the level of increase in funding that had occurred in the health service in recent years would not be at the same level next year. The Minster was addressing the Irish Hospital... Read more

HSE cuts drug mark-up

Sandra Ryan | 12 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has criticised pharmacists for threatening to pull out of drug payment schemes after the recent decision to reform the way they are reimbursed by the State for buying drugs. From December, pharmacies will no longer... Read more

The IMO may sue HSE managers

Ian McGuinness | 12 October 2007 | Industrial Relations, Medico-Legal

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned the Health Service Executive (HSE) that it will take legal action against individual members of management if sick and pregnant NCHDs have to work because a lack of locum cover. Mr Fintan Hourihan,... Read more

Accounts show HSE sold lands for a song

Ian McGuinness | 12 October 2007 |

The Health Service Executive (HSE) and its predecessors sold €86 million worth of land for a fraction of the price, according to information released so far by the HSE. The recently published Audited Appropriation Accounts 2006, drawn up by the... Read more

UCD offering CSI course in Sexual Assault Examination

Greg Baxter | 12 October 2007 | Research and Education

University College Dublin (UCD) is offering a graduate certificate in Sexual Assault Forensic Examination in conjunction with the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at Rotunda Hospital. Prof Denis Cusack, who will lead the course along with Drs Andrew Wilkinson and Mary... Read more

Consultative committee will be formed by the HSE

Ian McGuinness | 12 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Health service management have confirmed it will immediately establish a consultative committee to fill the vacuum left by the dissolution of Comhairle na nOspidéal, it has emerged. The final report from the Chairman of the consultant contract talks, Mr Mark... Read more

Plan to co-locate NEDOC with minor injury units

Sandra Ryan | 12 October 2007 | Health Management

The Health Service Executive North East has proposed co-locating the North East doctor on call service (NEDOC) with minor injury units that will replace A&E services in the region, under the HSE’s transformation plans. The proposal has yet to be... Read more

The 'satisfied' customer may not know any better

Greg Baxter | 12 October 2007 | Health Management

Two reports on the state of the health service were published recently. One was commissioned by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and was touted as proof that patients were highly satisfied. The second was a European study that rated Ireland... Read more

Hospital cleanliness– overrated?

Sandra Ryan | 12 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

Gordon Brown recently told the English press that a major spring clean was needed in UK hospital wards to combat hospital acquired infections, particularly MRSA. The words he actually used were “deep clean”, which prompted a dignified comeback from doctors... Read more

More than a skin-deep service

Ian McGuinness | 12 October 2007 | Interviews

A keen interest in dermatology by Tralee GP Dr David Buckley, has resulted in a special clinic being established above his general practice in the Kerry town. Dr Buckley, who explained that he has been a member of the European... Read more

Doctor accepts his career is over after patient's death

Ed Madden | 12 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

In September 2007, the General Medical Council (GMC) sought an order from the High Court to extend for a further 12 months from 12 September 2007, an interim order of suspension initially made on 9 March 2005 against Dr Michael... Read more

Canada: Survey highlights doctors' concerns

05 October 2007 | Foreign News

A recent on-line survey of medical specialists carried out by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has revealed that specialists’ main concerns include staff shortages and the lack of capacity in the healthcare system. “Right now the system is only scraping... Read more

Cancer deaths to reach 17 million

05 October 2007 | Foreign News

Cancer deaths will more than double to 17 million people each year by 2030, with poor countries shouldering the heaviest burden from the disease, according to the head of the United Nation’s cancer agency. Mr Peter Boyle, Director of the... Read more

US: Top salary earners are the anaesthesiologists

05 October 2007 | Foreign News

A survey of salaries among various medical specialties in the US has revealed that anaesthetists are the top earners, at an average of US$254,102 per year. The survey, carried out by Pay Scale Inc, also revealed that general surgeons came... Read more

Almost 300 wait for residential care

Sandra Ryan | 05 October 2007 | Public Health

The country’s oldest provider of services for people with disabilities, St Michael’s House in Dublin, has revealed they have 296 people on their priority waiting list, making it the largest residential waiting list in the country. According to Chief Executive... Read more

Question remains over central fund

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

It is still unclear whether there is a central fund to allow mental health services to cover the costs of High Court and Circuit Court cases in relation to involuntary detained psychiatric patients. Last week Irish Medical Times reported that... Read more

St Vincent’s oil tank needs to be okayed by Chief Fire Officer

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Planning and Development

St Vincent’s University Hospital will have to acquire and comply with the requirements of Dublin’s Chief Fire Officer before it can build a 96,000 litre oil tank and a 60,000 litre water storage tank at its Elm Park campus. The... Read more

Quinn to increase its fees in order to match the Vhi schedule

Greg Baxter | 05 October 2007 | Private Healthcare

Quinn Healthcare has announced it will increase the fees it pays consultants for procedures to match the prices Vhi has listed in its 2007 schedule of fees, which was published in June. Quinn will pay those fees retrospectively from July,... Read more

Tralee GP set to provide dermatological services

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | General Practice

A Tralee GP has established a new dermatology service in his Kerry clinic. Dr David Buckley’s Ashe Street Clinic now provides medical and surgical dermatology. Last December, Irish Medical Times revealed that 82 per cent of all second opinions for... Read more

HSE sold €94.5 million in land and buildings in 2006

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 |

The Health Service Executive sold €94.5 million worth of land and buildings last year, it has emerged. The figure is contained in the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts for 2006. According to the section on the HSE, it disposed... Read more

Cleaner hospitals are not MRSA-free

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Hospital Medicine

Cleaning hospitals in order to eliminate MRSA and other infections is not backed up by evidence, according to specialists writing in The Lancet. In an editorial that stemmed from plans in the UK to carry out “deep cleans” in hospitals,... Read more

Strategy welcomed

Sandra Ryan | 05 October 2007 | Health Management, Hospital Medicine

A leading oncologist and former Chair of the National Cancer Forum has said doctors should not be worried about the loss of cancer services from hospitals, due to happen on a phased basis under the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) new... Read more

€23 million unspent on medical cards

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Health Management

Nearly €23 million allocated for medical card services last year was not spent. The Auditor and Comptroller General’s appropriation accounts for 2006 showed that over €1.511 billion was allocated to the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) medical card services scheme. However,... Read more

Irish doctors publish death row study

Terence Cosgrave | 05 October 2007 |

Two Irish doctors have had a study on the psychological condition of death row inmates in the US published in the American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry. The study, The Psychological Concomitants of Capital Punishment: Thematic Analysis of Last Statements from... Read more

Irish healthcare– a ‘confusing mixture’

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Health Management

An economics researcher has branded the Republic’s hospital sector “a complex and often confusing mixture of public and private provision” that is still deeply influenced by a policy decision of the 1950s. The comments were made by Prof Richard Layte... Read more

Status is revoked before tribunal sits

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

Involuntarily detained psychiatric patients are still five times more likely to have their status revoked before a tribunal into their case sits, than having it changed by the tribunal hearing itself. The latest figures from the Mental Health Commission show... Read more

Heartwatch should be greatly expanded

Sandra Ryan | 05 October 2007 | Public Health

Programmes to prevent cardiovascular disease such as Heartwatch should be expanded nationally, recommends a Health Service Executive review of the cardiovascular strategy, in order to further decrease Ireland’s mortality rate from heart disease. The review of Building Healthier Hearts reveals... Read more

Smoking areas should be moved

Greg Baxter | 05 October 2007 | Public Health

The Minister for Health has suggested that hospital smoking areas not be allowed near front entrances. Ms Mary Harney said that too often smoking areas are too close to the entrances of hospitals, and that patients have to “walk right... Read more

Patients satisfied with GPs

Greg Baxter | 05 October 2007 | General Practice

A large patient satisfaction survey has found a high degree of satisfaction from people who access GP services. Satisfaction among inpatients was less positive, and only a small majority of people who accessed outpatient services were satisfied, the survey found.... Read more

Ireland takes a slow climb up EU healthcare index

Sandra Ryan | 05 October 2007 | Health Management

Ireland has the 16th most consumer-friendly healthcare system in Europe, according to the 2007 Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI), launched last week in Brussels. The report states the Government’s investment in health has begun to show results, “improving a historically... Read more

Hopes fade as contract progress slows

Greg Baxter | 05 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Progress in contract talks has slowed and an agreement by the target of 6 October is unlikely, the Secretary General of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) told Irish Medical Times. Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick said talks chairman Mr Mark Connaughton... Read more

Management is to hold firm on consultant pay

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Industrial Relations

Management do not intend to make a further proposal in relation to pay in the consultant contract talks, Irish Medical Times has been told. IMT was informed that management are “not of a mood to make any further offers”. However,... Read more

New Editor in place for Irish Medical Times

05 October 2007 |

The Irish Medical Times has appointed Terence Cosgrave as Editor to replace Colin Kerr who was with the paper for seven years. The IMT’s News Editor Glenn Taylor has been appointed Deputy Editor of the paper. Cosgrave has worked previously... Read more

The final tally on health spending

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Health Management

When it comes to health spending, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s annual report for 2006 concentrates on problems with the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) information and communication technology spending. It is hardly surprising that Mr John Purcell should zone in... Read more

Travel debate is revving up

Ian McGuinness | 05 October 2007 | Health Management

News that a single mother on social welfare paid €207 for a taxi to accompany her son to Sligo for a consultant’s appointment, has brought non-emergency transport to hospital to the fore once again. The case was raised by Comhairle... Read more

A happy accident for indemnity claimants

Sandra Ryan | 05 October 2007 | Interviews, Medico-Legal

Before the existence of the PIAB, solicitors made a lot of money by bringing personal injury claims to the courts. Now, doctors are the ones getting a fee for assessing injuries and performing independent examinations. The PIAB, which is self-funded,... Read more

Young mother dies after substandard treatment

Ed Madden | 05 October 2007 | Medico-Legal

On 30 September 2002, Elaine Carter, a married woman, gave birth to a baby boy, Bradley, at Basildon Hospital. The baby was about eight weeks premature. Earlier in the same year, she had given birth to a daughter, Holly, who... Read more