Dear Editor, The HSE decision to suspend recruitment indefinitely is now hitting hard in hospitals and healthcare facilities around the country, and anger from patients and staff members and workers, is more than justified. We see where doctors in the Midland Regional Hospital have been instructed to cut back on the number of day cases [...]
Dear Editor, I am surprised at the sensational and misleading tone and content of a front-page article published in the Irish Medical Times of 31 August 2007. The heading, ‘Over 1,000 involuntary psychiatric patients released’, is surprisingly sensational and inaccurate. The use of the word ‘released’ in the heading and throughout the article implies release [...]
The quality and standards of hospitals has been centre stage in the last 10 days. The issue of inspections is an interesting one, and one that raises questions. What role will the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) have in respect to the new co-located facilities when they come on stream? What role does it [...]
The Italian philosopher, Nicolo Machiavelli once remarked that “there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to indicate a new order to things, for the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order and only lukewarm defenders in all those [...]
Dear Editor, The decision of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to place a total ban on the recruitment or replacement of staff is a direct attack on the interests of patients and will inevitably lead to a deterioration of standards in key areas of the health service, many of which are already experiencing huge problems. [...]
Dear Editor, It is with some interest that I read the ongoing discussion between very experienced British and Irish dermatologists regarding the efficacy of pulsed dye laser treatment of active acne. I would like to add some objective comment as I was amongst the first doctors in Ireland to start treating acne with lasers back [...]
Medical matters to the fore again; I have received many calls in the last few days regarding the announcement of an aptitude test for medicine. I must admit that I have not yet seen all the details but from what the journalists tell me the thrust of this seems to be to allow people to [...]
Once again the summer seems to be drawing to a damp and dismal end, leaving us with only a few fond memories of our pleasant April– and a few clement days here and there during our ‘summer’– to look back on. The rest of the summer was, to be perfectly honest, a damp squib. Many [...]
Dear Editor, At this point in Ireland sandwich bars, butcher shops and restaurants undergo a higher level of independent inspection than a hospital or clinic. Confidence in the Irish medical system is being seriously undermined by the continuing exposure of cases of medical negligence. There is now an urgent and compelling argument for a national [...]
Sixty new hospital consultants. Yippee! Another pile to add to the 68 hospital consultant jobs that were ‘announced’ earlier this year, as well as the 40 or so category 2 jobs on hold for some time. That’s a significant number of individuals to take up posts in the next year to 18 months. Announcements about [...]
Loading ...
