Tagcloud

abortion, admissions and discharges, alcohol, Alzheimer's disease, antibiotics, asthma, autism, bed shortages, blood, book review, breast cancer, Brendan Drumm, cancer, capacity, cardiology, cars, charity, children, CME, co-location, communications, competence assurance, consultants, cosmetic surgery, cross-border, cutbacks, Department of Health, diabetes, disability, drugs, e-health, education, elderly people, elective surgery, emergency medicine, ESRI, ethics, EWTD, exercise, falls, fitness to practice, Freedom of Information, funding, fundraising, General Election, general practice, genetics, GPs, Hanly report, health insurance, HIQA, HIV/AIDS, hospital beds, HPV, HSE, IBTS, ICGP, IHCA, IMO, industrial relations, influenza, Irish Healthcare Awards, Irish Medicines Board (IMB), IT, labs, locum, Mary Harney, maternity, ME, media, medical card, Medical Council, medical devices, medico-legal, mental health, MRSA, multiple sclerosis (MS), NCHDs, neurology, NHS, non-EU doctors, North East, Northern Ireland, NTPF, nurses, nursing homes, nutrition, obesity, obituary, organ donations, pandemic, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacists, politics, practice management, preventative healthcare, primary care, privatisation, prostate cancer, psychiatry, public health, quality and safety, RCSI, reconfiguration, recruitment, regional hospitals, research, schizophrenia, screening, sexual assault, skin cancer, smoking, spending, sport, stem cell research, STIs, stroke, suicide, surgery, training, travel, tropical medicine, tuberculosis, universal healthcare, vaccine, value for money, Vision for Change, waiting lists, whistleblowing, work-life balance

Opinion: June 2008

The era of 'Celtic Tighten-the-Belt'

Terence Cosgrave | 27 June 2008 | Editorial

Terence Cosgrave on how an economic downturn means that the Minister for Health must allocate scarcer funds on the basis that they will improve our health service in the long term, rather than satisfy short-term political goals. There is no... Read more

Call for entries for ophthalmology prize

26 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, I would be grateful if you would advise your readers of a newly- established prize for European ophthalmologists, including Irish ophthalmologists. EuroTimes, the journal of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), has launched the John... Read more

Soon, there will be more TV than world

26 June 2008 | The Inside Back

People in Ireland are watching more television than ever, and on more and bigger televisions than ever, and it’s destroying the world. From 1990 to 2006, average household electricity use per person increased by 62 per cent, according to Sustainable... Read more

More thoughts on SHO and Registrar training

25 June 2008 | Mick Molloy

Dr Mick Molloy says the recently published audit on SHO and Registrar posts throws up some very interesting questions for doctors and the HSE. Last week I wrote about the recently published Audit of SHO and Registrar Posts — May... Read more

Private screening costs

24 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, We would like to forward a price list from one of the local private clinics which may be of interest to GPs all over the country. We suspect that most GPs offer almost the exact same service for... Read more

Customers and US convenience

Dr Mark Hannon | 24 June 2008 | Mark Hannon

Dr Mark Hannon thinks importing the American model of making things convenient for customers might be a good idea for the health service. I have recently returned from a short trip to the USA and as usual, I was more... Read more

Lisbon learnings

Terence Cosgrave | 20 June 2008 | Editorial

Terence Cosgrave thinks the lack of a clear debate on the Lisbon Treaty referendum bodes ill for the future. If the Lisbon Treaty referendum demonstrated anything, it was that Irish people are not content to take the word of politicians... Read more

AIDS articles mislead

Dr De Cock, Dr De Lay | 20 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, We wish to clarify misinterpretations concerning WHO and UNAIDS positions on the status of the AIDS epidemic in recent articles in the national media. A recent story in the Independent on Sunday, for example (titled: ‘Threat of world... Read more

GPs or Gatekeepers?

Dr Kevin Quinn | 20 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, Dr Paul Heslin’s opinion in 6 June’s IMT (www.imt.ie/news/2008/06/do_referral_letters_have_a_fun.html) that referral is something that should be considered redundant and perhaps it is time for the profession to move on is, I assume, designed to provoke thought and response... Read more

Who's afraid of a 'New Deal' for the Irish health service?

Dr Truls Christiansen | 19 June 2008 | Guests

Dr Truls Christiansen, a Wicklow GP, agrees with some recent suggestions in Irish Medical Times — especially the need for a one-tier health service. I read with gloom in The Irish Times lately that patients will soon be able to... Read more

Pharmacy contract must try to satisfy all parties

Kealan Flynn | 18 June 2008 | Kealan Flynn

Kealan Flynn writes that pharmacies can provide clinical services as part of a drive to put the focus on prevention and push services into the community. The issue of a new community pharmacy contract, which has fallen below the radar... Read more

Sailing is not for relaxing

17 June 2008 | The Inside Back

I sailed my fourth Lambay Regatta two weeks ago – the annual cannonball run of the moderately rich and their hangers-on around Lambay Island. I race on a J109 – one of about eight crew – out of Dun Laoghaire.... Read more

NCHDs' training must be quality assured

Dr Mick Molloy | 17 June 2008 | Mick Molloy

Dr Mick Molloy welcomes the RCPI's audit of SHO and registrar posts but finds that it throws up challenges regarding the provision of medical training. The Royal College of Physicians has recently published the most detailed audit of SHO and... Read more

I’m not lost, I’m just not interested...

14 June 2008 | The Inside Back

Last week, the New York Times published an article in praise of the television show Lost for ‘dismissing the notion of easy resolutions’ through ‘narrative uncertainty’. I’m not really qualified to write a review article about Lost. I should say... Read more

Condemnation of laser deregulation

14 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons and the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors (BACD) have jointly condemned the proposal to deregulate the use of lasers in ‘non-healthcare’ treatment and have launched a petition calling on the UK... Read more

Concern of Dublin AIDS Alliance over increase in STI infections

14 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, The Health Protection Surveillance Centre’s latest figures, contained in the Sexually Transmitted Infections 2006 report has noted an increase in the number of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) in half of the country’s health regions. This rise in STIs is... Read more

World views and local realities

14 June 2008 | Editorial

Terence Cosgrave suggests that regardless of the vote on the Lisbon Treaty, Ireland needs to engage with the reality of the wider world and adapt to the changing global realities — while maintaining local mores and standards. Travel broadens the... Read more

Bad times ahead may teach us some good

Dr Mark Hannon | 11 June 2008 | Mark Hannon

Dr Mark Hannon believes that an economic downturn might teach us some valuable lessons about the things that are really important in life. Despite the fact that the summer is upon us, there seems to be an air of gloom... Read more

Application changes are sure to cause confusion

Dr Mick Molloy | 10 June 2008 | Mick Molloy

A document has just been launched and sent to all schools in Ireland and to their guidance counsellors in relation to the new selection criteria with respect to undergraduate entry to medicine for EU applicants from 2009 onwards. This follows... Read more

'Man'-power crisis

Mary Anne Kenny | 07 June 2008 | Editorial

Mary Anne Kenny on the need to retain women GPs and how the issue of manpower relates to women, too, A general practitioner I know had her second baby recently – and will not be returning to work. Based in... Read more

Urgent need for staffing of mental health teams

06 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, The Mental Health Commission (MHC) wishes to express its concern that while progress in the performance and quality of care in approved centres throughout the country has been made, considerable improvements are still necessary. The provisions of the... Read more

'Tainted' study results should be made public

04 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, Regarding ‘the long-awaited and disappointing results from the ENHANCE study’, as referred to in the recent article ‘Targeting cardiovascular benefits’ (IMT, issue 09/05/’08 — see www.imt.ie/clinical/cardiovascular/targeting-cardiovascular-benef.html): The evidence emanating from the ENHANCE trial was concealed for two years... Read more

Lisbon Treaty is the first big test of the new Taoiseach

Kealan Flynn | 04 June 2008 | Kealan Flynn

Anyone who has read the Lisbon Treaty from cover to cover should wear their achievement like a badge of honour. Taoiseach Brian Cowen was honest enough to admit he hadn’t read all of it, while businessman Ulick McEvaddy admitted he... Read more

Task Force Report must now be implemented

04 June 2008 | Letters

Dear Editor, The Emergency Department Task Force Report was published by the HSE on 1 June 2007. It had been completed on 8 December 2006 but lay on HSE senior managers’ desks for six months. The recommendations of the Task... Read more

IT skills being squandered due to HSE's lack of investment

Dr Mick Molloy | 04 June 2008 | Mick Molloy

Dr Mick Molloy takes a look at the issue of electronic health records and says that Ireland must invest in IT to meet international standards of healthcare. There is an interesting US debate going on right now about the value... Read more