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Opinion: February 2007

No return to those bad old days of cold dispensaries

Oliver Whyte, Westport, Co Mayo | 23 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, It is beyond belief that sources indicate that Indicative Drugs Savings Scheme may be scrapped. This scheme has helped many doctors transform general practice in Ireland, specifically The provision/upgrading of premises. The provision of practice equipment (ECGs, defibrillators,... Read more

Inadequate pension

Eamon Timmins, Head of Advocacy and Communications, Age Action, Dublin 2 | 23 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, The State pension will be a crucial issue in the coming election for many of the 460,000 pensioners who are dependent on it as their main source of income. Over one-third of these pensioners is surviving on the... Read more

Drogheda hospital is a 'ticking time bomb'

Deputy Paudge Connolly, Independent TD, Cavan-Monaghan | 23 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is coming under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and the HSE’s immediate standard response is to commission another internal report to establish ‘what’s wrong’. The HSE’s veritable library of... Read more

Our precious elderly

23 February 2007 | Editorial

Colin Kerr says that especially at a time of unprecedented prosperity, it is unacceptable that the care of the most vulnerable section of our society does not reach the highest standard We all want our parents, family and loved ones... Read more

I am clever, I am strong, I am great and I know I am...

Dr Mark Hannon | 23 February 2007 | Mark Hannon

Back in the good old days of the Leaving Certificate, when all that worried us was the points system, job applications seemed as far away as getting into Lillie’s on a Saturday night without being asked for identification. However, we... Read more

Clarification

16 February 2007 | Editorial

In our front page story of 2 February we reported that Dr James Barry admitted to committing ‘tiny peccadillos’ which resulted in his being struck off by the Medical Council. Dr Barry has asked us to point out that he... Read more

Cynical electorate?

16 February 2007 | Editorial

As politicians, many of them doctors, gear up for the election, Colin Kerr says voters may feel the health system is in such a mess that it does not matter who is in power It may be cold outside, but... Read more

Tobacco industry is shown to be 'cynical and disreputable'

Dr Fenton Howell, St Mary’s Villas, Drogheda, Co Louth | 16 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, The decision by the tobacco industry and others to abandon their challenge at the last minute to the legislation which would enable the Minister for Health and Children to ban the advertising of tobacco products at point of... Read more

Opposition must remember that politics is a blood sport

Kealan Flynn | 16 February 2007 | Kealan Flynn

The latest Irish Times/TNS mrbi opinion poll confirms something this writer has long suspected– that support for the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat option is softer than we have been led to believe. But the Rainbow alternative, while consolidating its improving levels... Read more

Barriers to diagnosis are costing lives

Dr Mick Molloy | 16 February 2007 | Mick Molloy

Frustration at the moment is palpable and it is making life easy for radio presenters, as there is so much health-related material out there which they do not even have to research to find. Members of the public are coming... Read more

Some decisions are best left to experts

Dr Mark Hannon | 09 February 2007 | Mark Hannon

The Irish economy is continuing to grow at breakneck speed, and few people now enjoying the good times want to remember the numerous bad old days in our recent past. Neither do people want to focus on the many rather... Read more

A startling attack on planned co-location

Dr Rónán Collins, MD, Consultant Physician in Older Adult & Stroke Medicine, Adelaide & Meath Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24 | 09 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, The article on MRSA (IMT, 26 January 2007) is a startling attack on the idea of co-location of public/private hospitals. Although not being a microbiologist myself, I am very aware and concerned at all times about the threat... Read more

FG is right to back Harney in battle with consultants

Dick Keane, 35 Silchester Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin | 09 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, I was thrilled to hear Dr Liam Twomey, Fine Gael’s Health Spokesman, pledge full backing for Mary Harney’s ultimatum to hospital consultants. This could be as significant for the health services as Alan Dukes’ ‘Tallaght strategy’ was for... Read more

Mass medication without regulation

Brian O Ceallaigh, European Union Environmental Services Ireland, 20 The Hedgerows, Foxrock, Dublin 18 | 09 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, Fluoride accumulates in the body and young children retain up to 80 per cent. Research over the past 30 years indicates that use of fluoride in a public water scheme leads to: higher levels of bone cancer in... Read more

Extend Heartwatch

09 February 2007 | Editorial

Colin Kerr suggests Minister Harney should divert some of her energy from fighting consultants and into establishing a national Heartwatch programme in general practice In December 1967, Dr Christiaan Barnard performed the first human-to-human heart transplant on a 57-year-old man... Read more

Health needs over ability to pay

Dr Pascal O’Dea, Medical Centre, Bachelors Walk, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow | 09 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, I wish to commend the initiative of those doctors calling for support for our public health service. The doctors involved are agreed that private institutions are an acknowledged part of our health service, but they have highlighted the... Read more

Patients are the victims of dispute

Deputy Paudge Connolly, Independent TD, Cavan/Monaghan, Leinster House, Dublin 2 | 02 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, I am calling for direct face-to-face negotiations between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) to avert a threatened withdrawal by pharmacists from the provision of services to medical cardholders. Pharmacists claim that they... Read more

TBI is being neglected and patients need help

Alwyn Byrne, Apt 7 Wellington Hall, 15 Wellington Quay, Dublin 2 | 02 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Sir, I would be very grateful if you would print this letter in order to raise awareness of the perception of a particular patient group and also that myself and others with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) may receive help... Read more

New legislation is unsatisfactory

Dr Liam Twomey, Fine Gael Health Spokesman, Leinster House, Dublin 2 | 02 February 2007 | Letters

Dear Editor, The Health Bill is ill-conceived and falls well short of the kind of protection which would be guaranteed to patients under Fine Gael and Labour plans for a Patient Safety Authority. The Dáil has been recalled early to... Read more

Jaw Jaw or War War?

02 February 2007 | Editorial

Colin Kerr says that Minister for Health Mary Harney may be determined to introduce a new consultant contract, with or without the approval of their representative organisations The Minister for Health Mary Harney has expressed disappointment at the lack of... Read more

The future holds no reprieve for Irish general practice

Dr Illona Duffy | 02 February 2007 | Guests

It’s been a busy, busy week. A visit to a private nursing home started it all. All was well with the patients. A few coughs and wheezes were dealt with and, with time to spare, a few words of chatter... Read more

What rewards for risks in the public service?

Kealan Flynn | 02 February 2007 | Kealan Flynn

The departure of Aidan Browne as head of Primary, Community and Care at the Health Service Executive (HSE) received little more than a brief mention in the media, and seems to have evoked no surprise at all in the HSE.... Read more

Does one site fit all for the new national children's hospital?

Dr Mick Molloy | 02 February 2007 | Mick Molloy

The Crumlin saga just runs and runs. All manner of interested parties are now expressing their opinion, all more interesting than the last. Not having seen the document which indicated why the Mater site was chosen in the first instance,... Read more