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News: February 2010

St Luke’s pays out €1.3m refund to Vhi

Gary Culliton | 26 February 2010 | Private Healthcare

Billing irregularities have led to a refund of €1.3 million by St Luke’s cancer hospital in Dublin to Vhi Healthcare, Irish Medical Times has learned. Vhi said that a billing review in August 2008 identified a number of ‘irregularities regarding... Read more

Training needed for GMS list eligibility

Gary Culliton | 25 February 2010 | General Practice

A doctor who has been in practice for many years with another doctor who has a GMS list is not eligible to apply for that list unless s/he undergoes a particular training programme, Health Minister Harney told the Oireachtas Health... Read more

600,000 short on swine flu

Dara Gantly | 25 February 2010 | Public Health

The HSE CEO estimates that the Executive needs to vaccinate an additional 600,000 people if it is to protect the population against a further wave of swine flu. Prof Brendan Drumm has indicated that while overall vaccine coverage has been... Read more

Parents warned on cord blood banks

Gary Culliton | 25 February 2010 | Regulation

The Irish Stem Cell Foundation has warned against blood-cord stem cell banks. Irish parents should be careful about investing in treatmentsat clinics that offer to ‘bank’ stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns for use later in life when... Read more

Sight for sore eyes

Gary Culliton | 25 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

Ocular cancer services will be repatriated from Liverpool to Dublin before the summer, Irish Medical Times has learned. This will involve combining the skills of experts at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear and at St Luke’s Hospital, Rathgar.... Read more

Delayed discharge rates rocket again

Dara Gantly | 24 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The number of delayed discharges nationally last month was the highest since August 2009, Irish Medical Times has learned. While the latest available HSE Performance Report for December showed a slight decrease in delayed discharges compared to November, HSE CEO... Read more

Safety notice issued on cryosurgical device

Dara Gantly | 24 February 2010 | Regulation

The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) has issued an advisory notice on a cryosurgical device that uses carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. A manufacturing problem has been detected in the Wallach LL100 Cryosurgical System CO2 where a restriction of the flow of... Read more

Keane out in front in two-horse race

24 February 2010 | Health Management

One person bet €500 at evens that Prof Tom Keane will emerge as the next HSE CEO, on February 4, bookmakers Paddy Power reports. This brought his odds tumbling to 1/3. “There have been a number of other nibbles on... Read more

Planning setback for Beaumont project

Dara Gantly | 23 February 2010 | Planning and Development

Dublin City Council has ruled an application for outline planning permission for a new three-storey radiation oncology structure at Beaumont Hospital ‘invalid’. The HSE development comprises the provision of Phase 2 radiation oncology facilities for the national plan for radiation... Read more

GPs 'above average' on lifestyle markers

23 February 2010 | General Practice

Doctors are smoking and drinking less than the rest of the population, but are average exercise takers, the concluding report from the IMT GP survey reveals... Read more

'Physician, heal thyself' still mantra for one-third of GPs

23 February 2010 | General Practice

It seems some GPs do not make the best patients, with a third admitting they do not have a GP of their own and did not avail of the swine flu vaccine. In a poll conducted by Irish Medical Times,... Read more

ED report identifies gaps in performance

Gary Culliton | 22 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The average number of patients waiting for emergency department (ED) admission at 2pm daily last month was 143, the HSE has revealed. “This is the annual peak period and was exacerbated by the high snowfalls, which placed additional demands on... Read more

Parents must embrace HPV vaccination programme — RCPI

Niamh Mullen | 22 February 2010 | Public Health

The RCPI’s Faculty of Public Health Medicine has said it is essential parents fully embraced the HPV vaccination programme for their daughters. “What remains essential is that women aged 25-60 years take up their invitation from CervicalCheck and that parents... Read more

Further waves of vCJD predicted

Dara Gantly | 22 February 2010 | News

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) remains a ‘very real and continuing threat’ to public health and recent developments strongly support predictions of second and third waves of long incubation vCJD, an international expert has warned. Dr Robert Rohwer, Associate Professor of... Read more

Further Ethical Guide due

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Regulation

The Medical Council is considering producing a second ‘Ethical Guide’ concerning standards of practice, to go alongside its current Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics, Irish Medical Times has learned. Medical Council President Prof Kieran Murphy confirmed that a second... Read more

Autumn until full EWTD compliance

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Health Management

The HSE does not expect compliance with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) to be achieved until the fourth quarter of 2010, despite the EU having already issued a warning on the issue. According to its new service plan, the... Read more

Green light on HSE sanctions

Gary Culliton | 19 February 2010 | Health Management

A new crackdown on wait-ing lists, involving a controversial ‘forced NTPF’ policy involving offending hospitals having to pay for procedures in other facilities, has been launched by the HSE. Under the new get-tough plan, penalties will apply to a hospital... Read more

Data ‘grossly misleading’, says IHCA

Gary Culliton | 18 February 2010 | Industrial Relations

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has accused the Health Service Executive (HSE) of providing the Dáil Public Accounts Committee with ‘inaccurate and grossly misleading’ data regarding the ratio of public to private practice undertaken by hospital consultants. IHCA Assistant... Read more

Infusion Nurses Society launched in Ireland

Mary Anne Kenny | 18 February 2010 | News

An organisation launched this week aims to offer support and accreditation to registered nurses and is dedicated to the specialty practice of infusion therapy – administering medication by IV or subcutaneous injection. The Irish and UK International Affiliate of the... Read more

Submissions sought on Shine review

Dara Gantly | 17 February 2010 | Regulation

The independent review set up to examine whether a further investigation into the case of former Drogheda surgeon Michael Shine would be of ‘public benefit’ is seeking submission from interested parties. Chaired by retired High Court judge, Mr Justice T.C.... Read more

Ireland 'unique in Europe' on generics

Gary Culliton | 17 February 2010 | Health Management

Some generic drugs are now 50 per cent more expensive than their branded equivalents — a situation ‘unique in Europe’, the Clinical Director of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics has told Irish Medical Times. Describing this as ‘an extraordinary situation’,... Read more

Centralised facility 'an absolute disaster'

Gary Culliton | 17 February 2010 | Health Management

All of the 140 people re-quired by the new centralised medical cards facility will be posted to Finglas by April, HSE Chief Executive Prof Brendan Drumm told the Oireachtas Health Committee last week. On a recent occasion, Gardaí had to... Read more

€140m to be spent on primary care centres

Gary Culliton | 16 February 2010 | General Practice

A total of 26 primary care centres are expected to open this year ‘at a minimum’, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health heard last week, with a further 37 next year and another 25 in 2012. “To put that into... Read more

God is no impediment to co-location scheme

Dara Gantly | 16 February 2010 | Private Healthcare

Dublin City Council (DCC) has given the go-ahead to demolish a late-nineteenth-century chapel on the St James’s Hospital campus to make way for the planned 196-bed co-located hospital. Synchrony Properties Ltd was granted permission by DCC late last month (January... Read more

Psychiatric unit at Beaumont a 'priority'

Gary Culliton | 16 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The development of a new acute psychiatric unit at Beaumont Hospital is being progressed ‘as a matter of priority’ by the HSE in collaboration with Beaumont Hospital. A site for the unit has been identified and the funding is in... Read more

Wheely good cycling scheme for HSE staff

Dara Gantly | 16 February 2010 | Health Management

HSE National Director of Human Resources Sean McGrath has informed the Executive’s top-ranking managers that staff should get on their bikes – literally. Health-service workers can now avail of the Government’s cycle to work scheme, which covers bicycles and accessories... Read more

New MRI system for St James's Hospital

Dara Gantly | 16 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

St James’s Hospital has begun a search for a provider capable of delivering two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems to the Dublin hospital, one to replace a current system and another as a new installation. In a document issued last... Read more

Less than half of GPs are in PCTs

Niamh Mullen | 15 February 2010 | General Practice

‘Virtual’, ‘time-wasting’, ‘a white elephant’ and ‘under-resourced’ were some of the words used by GPs to describe what they thought of the Primary Care Strategy. More than half (52 per cent) said they were not part of a primary care... Read more

Some GPs charge twice as much as others

Niamh Mullen | 15 February 2010 | General Practice

The most that patients can expect to be charged for a visit to their family doctor is €65 with the cheapest consultation costing €30, according to IMT’s latest GP survey. But only 4 per cent of GPs said they charged... Read more

Doctors split on issue of advertising services

Niamh Mullen | 15 February 2010 | General Practice

GPs are divided on whether they should be allowed advertise their services freely, with many saying they would not like to see American-style television advertisements. Some 48 per cent of the 100 GPs polled by Irish Medical Times said they... Read more

GP fees face €70m cut

Gary Culliton | 12 February 2010 | General Practice

Cuts in fees paid to GPs may total up to €70 million this year. The Government expects the 8 per cent cuts to GPs’ professional fees, introduced last year, to yield €34.13 million in savings in 2010. A further cut... Read more

Revenue may cripple co-ops

Niamh Mullen | 12 February 2010 | General Practice

Tax advisors to the MIDOC GP co-op say the cost of HSE-funded out-of-hours services will increase by 40 per cent if the Revenue Commissioners wins the case on the tax treatment of locums. “One wing of the Government will have... Read more

GPs favour teen health rights

Brian Herron | 12 February 2010 | General Practice

Over two-thirds of GPs believe that some form of legislation should be introduced to allow teenagers to consent to or refuse medical treatment, including the ‘morning-after’ pill. However, only a small minority of those who felt that legislation was undesirable... Read more

GP training key to primary care roll out - Oireachtas report

Dara Gantly | 11 February 2010 | General Practice

An immediate expansion of GP training places to a minimum of 150 is needed if the target of having 542 primary care teams (PCT) operating by the end of 2011 is to be reached, according to a new report. Published... Read more

Strict new rules enforced for hiring

Dara Gantly | 11 February 2010 | Health Management

The HSE has introduced strict new terms and conditions for hiring temporary consultants and NCHDs through recruitment agencies. Following a competitive tender process, the Executive has appointed six companies that will be able to supply locum doctors to the HSE.... Read more

200 consultants breach work ratio

Gary Culliton | 11 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

Approximately 200 hospital consultants have received warning letters for breaches of their public/private work ratios, the HSE has confirmed. Consultants have nine months to bring their caseload within the ratio specified in their contracts. A joint committee involving the HSE,... Read more

Entry through EDs for diagnostics and access to consultants can be reduced

Gary Culliton | 10 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

HSE Chief Executive Prof Brendan Drumm has said the Executive plans to reduce the number of patients who enter hospitals through EDs to get a consultant opinion or access to diagnostics. Almost 20 per cent of patients admitted through EDs... Read more

Sanofi Pasteur, maker of Gardasil, wins contract to supply cervical cancer vaccine in Ireland

Gary Culliton | 10 February 2010 | Public Health

The contract to supply a cervical cancer vaccine which has been awarded to Sanofi Pasteur, the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, confirmed at yesterday’s meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health. The vaccine, Gardasil, will be given to first-year... Read more

HSE plan to end Navan trauma services 'reckless' - INMO

Gary Culliton | 10 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Association (INMO) has serious concerns that all ambulance trauma cases will be diverted to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda due to 'severe overcrowding problems' and 'inadequate bed capacity' in the northeast. Major trauma... Read more

GP services to be measured by HSE

Dara Gantly | 10 February 2010 | General Practice

The HSE Service Plan has committed the Executive to the development and reporting of additional performance measures in 2010, include new measures in primary care. There will be a range of new statistics in the quality and clinical care area,... Read more

HSE pledges 'first-class primary care'

Dara Gantly | 10 February 2010 | General Practice

HSE CEO Prof Brendan Drumm envisages that there will be almost 400 primary care teams in place by the end of 2010. Commenting after the approval of the HSE’s National Service Plan this week, Prof Drumm indicated that new primary... Read more

Swine flu vaccines extended to general population

Gary Culliton | 09 February 2010 | Public Health

The swine flu vaccination programme is moving into its final phase, with pandemic vaccines being made available to the general population through HSE clinics nationwide. Anyone in the target groups who has not yet been vaccinated is advised to come... Read more

Radiologist joins Medical Council

Dara Gantly | 09 February 2010 | Regulation

The Minister for Health Mary Harney has approved the nomination of Dr David O’Keeffe as a member of the Medical Council. Dr O’Keeffe, Consultant Radiologist at University Hospital Galway, was nominated by Dr Risteard Ó Laoide, Dean of the Faculty... Read more

NUIG to collaborate with WHO on health

Dara Gantly | 09 February 2010 | Research and Education

The World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion Research at NUI Galway was officially launched last week (January 29, 2010) by the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Áine Brady. The work of the WHO is supported... Read more

Applications sought for Ethicon grants

Brian Herron | 09 February 2010 | Research and Education

Applications for the prestigious Ethicon Foundation travel grants 2010 are now being solicited by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). The foundation was established by Ethicon Ltd to promote international goodwill in surgery, and to generate research and... Read more

Plastic surgeon found guilty of professional misconduct

Staff Reporter | 08 February 2010 | Regulation

An Italian plastic surgeon has been found guilt of professional misconduct by the Medical Council’s Fitness to Practise (FTP) Committee, over his failure in the post-operative care of an Irish patient. The FTP inquiry determined last Friday (February 5) that... Read more

UCD visiting professor is ‘Australian of the Year’

Dara Gantly | 08 February 2010 | Research and Education

A youth mental health expert from Victoria, in Ireland last year as a visiting professor at UCD, has been named Australian of the Year 2010. Prof Pat McGorry was presented with the award by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and... Read more

EU group praises Irish cervical cancer awareness campaign

Brian Herron | 08 February 2010 | Public Health

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) has received international recognition for its campaign to raise awareness of cervical cancer in Ireland. The charitable organisation scooped up the Pearl of Wisdom Award, which is given by the European Cervical Cancer Association... Read more

No Haitian adoption agreement planned

Dara Gantly | 08 February 2010 | News

The Department of Health and Children has ‘no plans’ to negotiate a bilateral adoption agreement with the Haitian government following the devastating earthquake last month. Minister of State Barry Andrews said last week (January 26) that Haiti was currently not... Read more

95% ‘Yes’ vote in NCHD ballot

Dara Gantly | 05 February 2010 | Industrial Relations

NCHDs have voted almost unanimously in favour of the Labour Court recommendation on a new NCHD contract. On completion of the count on Monday at IMO House, it emerged that 95 per cent of doctors were in favour of the... Read more

Green light on PC schemes

Dara Gantly | 05 February 2010 | Regulation

The Medical Council has informed Minister for Health Mary Harney that it is now in a position to recommend that she commence Part 11 of the Medical Practitioners Act (MPA), which provides for the mandatory participation of doctors in professional... Read more

Net cast wide for HSE CEO

Gary Culliton | 05 February 2010 | Health Management

More than 30 external applicants have put their names forward for the position of HSE CEO, IMT has learned. There have been at least four internal applications, including a number of HSE National Directors. Interviews for the post are expected... Read more

DoH responds to EU warning over EWTD

Dara Gantly | 05 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The Department of Health has officially replied to the European Commission’s Letter of Formal Notice over Ireland’s failure to comply with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). IMT has learned that Hawkins House met last week’s deadline to supply the... Read more

Centralisation aims to deal with medical cards in 15 days

Niamh Mullen | 05 February 2010 | General Practice

Health Minister Mary Harney has said that when the medical card application process is fully centralised, the HSE will aim for a turnaround time of 15 working days with provision for immediate processing of emergency applications. “The HSE has no... Read more

Long waiting lists set to 'disappear'

Gary Culliton | 05 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Prof Brendan Drumm, has pledged that long patient waiting lists ‘will disappear’ over the coming months. There has been a reduction of nearly a half in the number of people who... Read more

Beaumont issues traffic warning to ‘rat runners’

Dara Gantly | 04 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

Beaumont Hospital has issued a warning to drivers that the Trim Road entrance to its campus will be closed for a week, from 7am on Monday, February 8 until 7am on Tuesday February 16. The closure is necessary because of... Read more

Harney's assertion that ED overcrowding is improving is rejected by IAEM

Staff reporter | 04 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

Emergency department overcrowding isn’t getting better; it’s getting worse – much worse, according to the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine. Yesterday, on Today with Pat Kenny on RTE Radio 1, the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, declared that overcrowding had... Read more

ADHD may help creative genius to flourish

Dara Gantly | 04 February 2010 | Research and Education

What do Kurt Cobain, Lord Byron and Sir Walter Raleigh have in common? According to an Irish psychiatrist, they all had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – and it was this that allowed their creative geniuses to flourish. Prof Michael... Read more

New system sees fall in GP smears

Brian Herron | 04 February 2010 | General Practice

The majority of Irish GPs have reported a drop in the number of smear tests performed following CervicalCheck’s switch to call/recall. Many GPs claimed the fall-off has been ‘dramatic’ — an 80 per cent reduction in some cases.... Read more

Recession bites as almost half of GPs report seeing fewer private patients

Niamh Mullen | 04 February 2010 | General Practice

Family doctors have seen a dramatic increase in the number of medical-card patients they have treated over the last 18 months, while the number of private consultations continues to fall for most. The impact of the current recession is that... Read more

Reilly is top choice for Health Minister

Brian Herron | 04 February 2010 | General Practice

The majority of Irish GPs think that Dr James Reilly should be the next Minister for Health, according to a survey conducted by Irish Medical Times. The Fine Gael TD, and former president of the Irish Medical Organisation, was picked... Read more

GPs Keane for cancer czar to replace Drumm

Niamh Mullen | 04 February 2010 | General Practice

Most GPs would like to see the former head of the National Cancer Control Programme Professor Tom Keane become the next CEO of the HSE (see left). In a poll of GPs undertaken by Irish Medical Times, 55 per cent... Read more

Next HSE chief should prioritise primary care

Brian Herron | 04 February 2010 | General Practice

When the new CEO of the HSE takes up the post in August, most GPs hope the new recruit will focus on developing primary care. Unsurprisingly, some 49 per cent of family doctors polled by IMT said it should be... Read more

More hospitals comply with contract mix

Gary Culliton | 03 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

The number of hospitals showing 100 per cent of consultants in compliance with the public/private mix terms of their contracts has risen from two to seven in a month. These are Bantry, Mon-aghan, Roscommon, Tallaght, Naas, Dun Laoghaire and Loughlinstown.... Read more

Minister wants €27 million in savings from generics

Dara Gantly | 03 February 2010 | Health Management

The Minister for Health hopes that generic drugs manufacturers who have not yet decided to cut their prices will follow the lead set this week by members of the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA). The cost of 300 of the... Read more

Almost 2,000 health staff on career breaks

Niamh Mullen | 03 February 2010 | Health Management

There are 1,738 public health service staff are on a career break, according to figures to the end of November 2009. The HSE received 299 applications for the Incentivised Career Break Scheme, which was announced last year but suspended in... Read more

Charity promotes stem-cell research

Gary Culliton | 03 February 2010 | Research and Education

A new pro-medical research charity, the Irish Stem Cell Foundation, last week launched a new charter encouraging Irish clinicians, medical researchers, patient advocates and the public to join forces to make Ireland a better place for stem cell treatments, research... Read more

Personal music player use may cause premature hearing loss for many

Staff reporter | 01 February 2010 | News

According to a the findings of a survey released today, 51 per cent of MP3 users are listening to their players at dangerously high volume levels (above 89 decibels) for up to two hours a day. A recent European Commission... Read more

DCC gives go-ahead for new Crumlin ICU

Dara Gantly | 01 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

Our Lady’s Children’s Hos-pital Crumlin (OLCHC) has been granted planning permission by Dublin City Council (DCC) for a new two-storey intensive care unit (ICU). To be built partially over an existing building on the campus, the unit will comprise 339.8sqm... Read more

Pharmacy dispute key source of complaints

Niamh Mullen | 01 February 2010 | Regulation

There was a lack of accurate information available to the public in August last year during the pharmacy dispute, the Citizens Information Board (CIB) has said. According to the Board’s latest quarterly report, for July to September, some 52 complaints... Read more

Neurologists want model replicated

Niamh Mullen | 01 February 2010 | Hospital Medicine

Consultant neurologists at St Vincent’s University Hospital, who increased the number of outpatients seen by changing their practice, have recommended that their new system be implemented throughout the health service. By changing to an outpatient-based, consultant-led service, the team reduced... Read more