Rather than addressing the core issues, which a relatively unknown journalist raised in her book and television series, the media (broadcasters in particular) opted instead to line up, much like the characters in Murder on the Orient Express, each taking his or her turn to plunge in the dagger. One of the most disappointing aspects [...]
The Budget has come, and gone away again as quickly, for many. We had been promised for a number of years that medical card eligibility thresholds would be raised significantly. Those on the margins of society could really do with this measure and yet they are left on the sidelines again — despite the fact [...]
The battles that rage today in order to provide a health service commensurate with Ireland’s growing prosperity call to mind the battles that raged in the UK in the 40’s during the lead-up to the formation of the National Health Service. It was a very daunting task to embark on as England had survived a [...]
Dear Editor, If Dr David Buckley (30.11.07) had read anything but the title of my letter to Irish Medical Times (5.10.07) he would have seen that I said the placebo response to laser treatment is unquestionable. It is high time that he gave us full details of NLite laser treatment for acne: namely the number [...]
Dear Editor, The headline on the front page of Irish Medical Times, 30.11.07 ‘Thousands of patients assessed their GPs’ could equally have read ‘Thousands of GPs couldn’t have been bothered asking their patients to assess them’, or ‘Medical Council foists time-wasting exercise on doctors’, or ‘200 GPs mark their own exam papers by handpicking patients [...]
Dear Editor, One of the best articles I have ever read in Irish Medical Times was published last week called ‘Consultant Meetings are the biggest time-wasters of all’. Greg Baxter could have added that 80 per cent of other meetings are equally a waste of time. The only way forward is by reducing 80 per [...]
Dear Editor, I am surprised by Dr Quigley’s description of the Medical Practitioners Act as “quite good” (IMT 30.11.07). He seems to have had a Pauline conversion in recent weeks, perhaps with the election to the Medical Council appearing imminent. The recent announcement by the Department of Health and Children that it has suspended the [...]
What a week this was. Everyone knows about Portlaoise- word has gotten around about the relevant issues in Cork, and a small cohort know what is happening in Galway. The Minister for Health has just survived a motion of no confidence in the Dáil although there were casualties along the way. Deputy Ned O’Keeffe has [...]
Acres of newsprint and hours of radio and television airtime have been devoted to the various crises which the Health Service Executive (HSE), and Minister Harney in particular, have found themselves embroiled in over the past few weeks. Indeed, if one were to read the newspapers daily, one would think that the HSE is enveloped [...]
Dear Editor, With regard to the article Vaccination in schools is a mess (Irish Medical Times, 9 November 2007), we wish to point out that this is not the case in all areas. While it may reflect the personal experience of Dr Kevin Connolly, we consider it important to highlight that well-organised systems are in [...]
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