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Opinion: April 2009
It's different out there...
Declan Fox | 27 April 2009 | Guests
Declan Fox, from O'Leary, Prince Edward Island, writes that the attitude to healthcare makes a big difference to the way patients are treated in Canada. It’s different out there...and it’s not just the language that’s different. You have to be... Read more
Dilemmas of developing countries: to stay or go
Dr Amin a Muhammad | 26 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Amin A. Muhammad writes about the woes and wonders of migration and the difficulties faced by people who leave their homeland. The tradition of migration is common to humans as well as animals. The fascinating sight of migrating birds... Read more
Primary care targets are ‘extremely optimistic’
Niamh Mullen | 26 April 2009 | Guests
Reporter Niamh Mullen speaks to the HSE’s Assistant National Director of Estates and Capital about the roll out of primary care centres. By the end of 2009, the first nine dedicated primary care centres promised under the Primary Care Strategy... Read more
'Bug lady' reveals secret to elimination of MRSA
Greg Baxter | 25 April 2009 | Guests
Greg Baxter investigates how the Mater Private has effectively eliminated MRSA in its wards. I got to meet the ‘bug lady’ at the Mater Private Hospital – Ann Higgins, Assistant Director of Nursing Infection Control – a woman with an... Read more
IMO defends patients, too
Terence Cosgrave | 24 April 2009 | Editorial
Terence Cosgrave writes that although the IMO might be accused of defending 'sectional interests', its aim is to improve the health service... Read more
Dr Mary Grehan will be missed
24 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor, It was with great sadness that I read about the premature death of Dr Mary Grehan, the founder of the Association of General Practitioners (AGP). The news came as a great shock as I was unaware she had... Read more
First issue of IMT shows same problems as now
24 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Sir, I was interested to see the reproduction of your first edition in today’s Irish Medical Times. Then, as now, difficulties between the profession and our political masters dominated your columns.... Read more
The myths behind medical tourism
Caelen King | 24 April 2009 | Guests
Caelen King writes about the globalisation of the healthcare market and what this means for both healthcare providers and for patients... Read more
Consultant's sexual misconduct not at 'higher end of spectrum'
Ed Madden | 24 April 2009 | Editorial
Ed Madden, BL, looks at a recent English High Court case in which it was argued that the sanction of suspension imposed on a consultant physician was unduly lenient... Read more
What does the Hippocratic oath mean?
Dr Simon Mills | 24 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Simon Mills writes that despite beliefs to the contrary, Irish doctors do not take the Hippocratic oath and even if they did, it doesn't actually commit them to 'do no harm'... Read more
Oh Brothers, where art thou now?
24 April 2009 | Garrett FitzGerald
Dr Garrett FitzGerald ponders the rise in crime and harks back to an earlier time, when the men in black ruled with an iron hand... Read more
The state of creative writing in Ireland
G.B | 23 April 2009 | The Inside Back
I was just thinking about the fate of the short story in Ireland. A friend of mine is looking for a university-based creative writing course, because he’s interested in writing short stories. I told him he should try to find... Read more
Gold in them thar records
Dr Sean Callan | 23 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Sean Callan reports from the 2009 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting in Chicago on the financial stimulus being given to medical informatics in the US. The recent American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – better known as President... Read more
It’s medicine Jim, but not as we know it
Thecla Scully | 22 April 2009 | Guests
Thecla Scully writes that the futuristic days of Pixar's Wall-E may be closer in medicine than we think. Pixar’s latest brain child, Wall-E, was inspired by a question: what if mankind evacuated earth and forgot to turn off the last... Read more
Negotiating the stony path of ethics
Rory Hafford | 22 April 2009 | Guests
Rory Hafford continues his medical communications series with an illuminating look at truth and lies. Navajo Indians hold strongly to their beliefs. For instance, they believe that language and thought can shape reality. They also believe that if you give... Read more
Food chain’s new links
Dr Cliona Foley Nolan | 22 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Cliodhna Foley Nolan on the relationship between antibiotics in animal feed and AMR in humans. We have tended to associate antimicrobial resistance (usually antibiotic resistance) with overcrowded hospitals, poor hand-washing and over-prescribing by medical clinicians. However, it is clear... Read more
Food chain’s new links
Dr Cliona Foley Nolan | 22 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Cliodhna Foley Nolan on the relationship between antibiotics in animal feed and AMR in humans. We have tended to associate antimicrobial resistance (usually antibiotic resistance) with overcrowded hospitals, poor hand-washing and over-prescribing by medical clinicians. However, it is clear... Read more
The economic costs of mental illness in Ireland
Dr Brendan Kelly | 21 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Brendan Kelly writes that the economic downturn makes investing in mental health even more pressing — for both patients and society as a whole. The next few years are likely to see a much more considered approach to healthcare... Read more
False economy of cuts
Dr Mick Molloy | 21 April 2009 | Mick Molloy
Dr Mick Molloy wonders just where the savings are to be made by cutting back on elective surgery and if we are still in the business of healing the sick, at all. Nobody knows what effect the current budgetary scenario... Read more
Medicine man's laughter elixir
Dr Paul Stewart | 21 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Paul Stewart recently rediscovered the story of Thomas P. Kelley, Canada's king of the old-fashioned medicine men and inventor of the classic 'pie-in-the-face' gag. Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium on Dublin’s O’Connell Street was a place I passed last... Read more
Medical Miscellany
Terence Cosgrave | 21 April 2009 | Guests
The scientific sessions at the Irish Medical Organisation’s agm are becoming stronger each year and this year was no exception. A ‘must-see’ this year for sports enthusiasts was the session on ‘The role of Medicine in Sport’. Chaired by Irish... Read more
'Irresponsible' closures to put patients at risk
Niamh Mullen | 21 April 2009 | Guests
Reporter Niamh Mullen speaks to the HSE’s Assistant National Director of Estates and Capital about the roll out of primary care centres. By the end of 2009, the first nine dedicated primary care centres promised under the Primary Care Strategy... Read more
GPs quit north-east Unit
Niamh Mullen | 20 April 2009 | Guests
Niamh Mullen writes that GPs are discontented with the Health Service Executive's plans to reconfigure acute hospital services in the north-east Three doctors from Cavan, Monaghan and Louth have resigned from the GP Unit in the HSE Dublin North-East area... Read more
Medical Miscellany
Terence Cosgrave | 20 April 2009 | Guests
There has been a considerable amount of nostalgia-tinged pieces in the media recently about previous recessions, as pundits try to imagine what the effects of this one will be. Ah, the days of leg-warmers, Sony Walkmans, shoulder pads and, of... Read more
A sorry tale of a king's 'sorre legge'
Prof Pierce A. Grace | 20 April 2009 | Guests
Prof Pierce A. Grace on the medical complaints of King Henry VIII, whose love of sport was hampered by chronic leg ulcers, among other problems. Five hundred years ago, on April 21, 1509, the reclusive Henry VII died, reputedly of... Read more
Reading instruction guides on children
G.B. | 20 April 2009 | The Inside Back
Due date of the baby is fast approaching. As a result, my girlfriend (this is our first baby) is devouring instruction books regarding babies. The first one she read is the most infamous — the Contented Baby Book — which... Read more
Keeping down the cost of renal care
Gary Culliton | 20 April 2009 | Guests
Gary Culliton writes that as the instance of end-stage kidney disease rises, renal physicians are focusing on preventive strategies. During World Kidney Day last month, the issue of the high-cost of treatment for a small number of renal patients was... Read more
Patient survey yields surprises
Nycomed | 20 April 2009 | Guests
People’s satisfaction with their healthcare system depends more on external factors than on the care they experience as a patient, says a new survey. A survey measuring patient satisfaction in 21 European countries investigated what determines satisfaction with a healthcare... Read more
A look at the proposed Health Information Bill
Aisling Gannon | 20 April 2009 | Guests
Aisling Gannon of Beauchamps Solicitors looks at the proposed Health Information Bill, which will offer a legislative framework for the governance of personal health information. The proposed Health Information Bill, which is part of the ongoing Health Reform Programme, will... Read more
This is going to hurt a little..
Terence Cosgrave | 17 April 2009 |
Terence Cosgrave writes that if cuts aren't going to devastate frontline services, health sectoral leaders need to show where they can be made.... Read more
Right to legal representation at disciplinary hearing questioned
Ed Madden | 17 April 2009 | Guests
Ed Madden, BL, on a case in which the State appealed against a decision of the High Court that two prison officers were entitled to legal representation in the course of a disciplinary hearing... Read more
Is GID really just an over-valued belief system?
Dr Richard Gavin | 17 April 2009 |
Dear Editor, Your recent article about gender identity disorder (GID) raises some seriously challenging questions for the medical profession. Is transsexualism or GID about having the wrong body or the wrong beliefs?... Read more
Moves on disarmament are to be welcomed
Dr Michael Fanning | 16 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor, I welcome very much the American Government’s pledge of support to rid the world of nuclear weapons and its pledge through Barack Obama for the immediate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.... Read more
Cork seminar to help GPs
Dara Gantly | 16 April 2009 | Guests
Dara Gantly writes that doctors can learn how to manage their practices during the recession at Irish Medical Times's upcoming seminar in Cork.... Read more
Competence schemes will deal with diversity
Dara Gantly | 16 April 2009 | Guests
Dara Gantly speaks to the RCPI\s Leo Kearns on how to ensure professional competence.... Read more
Find a little piece of heaven on earth
Garrett Fitzgerald | 15 April 2009 | Garrett FitzGerald
Dr Garrett FitzGerald writes that in the midst of all the economic gloom and Budget worries, a trip to St Mullins will help you to put things in perspective.... Read more
After this Budget, the levy has run dry
Mick Mollow | 15 April 2009 | Mick Molloy
Dr Mick Molloy writes that the Budget's levy increases are a return to the taxation policies of old, with citizens financially crippled by high rates...... Read more
'Irresponsible' closures to put patients at risk?
Niamh Mullen | 08 April 2009 | Guests
With overnight emergency-department services due to close this week in Ennis and Nenagh, Niamh Mullen reports on the situation in the mid west. Many GPs have joined the public and unions in expressing their opposition to the closure of overnight... Read more
Where one or more docs are gathered
Rory Hafford | 08 April 2009 | Guests
Rory Hafford reports on the recent EAU Conference in Stockholm...and the way some doctors might look at you! Stockholm. The great and the good of the medical world have gathered together for the eagerly anticipated European Association of Urology (EAU)... Read more
Crossed wires, cross GPs
Paul Stewart | 07 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Paul Stewart writes that despite all our advances in communications, messages will inevitably get lost in translation between doctor and patient. There’s many a slip between the spoken word and the understanding of it by ourselves or others. A... Read more
Three years on and nothing is done
Mr Fergal Hickey | 07 April 2009 | Guests
The persistence of the emergency-department overcrowding problem three years after the Minister termed it a 'national emergency' and the lack of Ministerial and HSE action is a very serious cause for concern, writes Mr Fergal Hickey. On March 28, 2006,... Read more
Get with the gadgets
Dr Mick Molloy | 07 April 2009 | Mick Molloy
Dr Mick Molloy takes a look back at some of the must-have gadgets that have been developed in his lifetime and wonders where manufacturers can go from here. Every now and again, a gadget comes along with a real ‘wow... Read more
GEM is equal to the traditional medicine courses
Dr Deirdre Fanning | 07 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor, Re: ‘Medical Training – Anatomy is best learned on cadavers!’ (IMT, March 27, www.imt.ie/opinion/2009/03/anatomy_is_best_learned_on_cad.html. I wish to convey my concerns regarding the aforementioned article, which contains many aspects I believe to be unfounded and misleading. Firstly, the notions... Read more
So much has changed that I must also change
07 April 2009 | The Inside Back
TS Eliot once said something like: So much has changed that I must also change. I am remembering this rather inexactly, but what my fractured recollection still manages to convey is this: the world had altered so profoundly that traditional... Read more
IT system guides patients to health
Helix Health | 07 April 2009 | Guests
When some patients in the US arrive at their hospital or GP surgery, they will no longer have to fill out a clipboard full of paper forms because a pioneering handheld touch-screen device is being introduced to make life easier... Read more
Are hospitals with 'best performance' over-resourced?
Dr Gerard Crotty | 07 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor, Your headline ‘Patient load varies hugely’ (IMT, March 27, www.imt.ie/news/2009/03/patient_load_varies_hugely.html) picks on one particular parameter in the HealthStat report that illustrates the difficulties inherent in interpreting this type of statistic. The number of new outpatients seen per WTE... Read more
Use your head and start a new career
Garrett FitzGerald | 07 April 2009 | Garrett FitzGerald
Dr Garrett FitzGerald writes that colleagues who may be thinking about retirement should consider a handy new career in cranial osteopathy. Vast hordes of newly retired consultants have been phoning me night and day, seeking my invaluable advice on the... Read more
Without reform comes ruin
Terence Cosgrave | 07 April 2009 | Editorial
Terence Cosgrave writes that the expert group appointed to review health funding is our last chance to address the problems in our health system. By the time you read this, we will have had our fourth Budget in a year.... Read more
Pharmaceutical company failed in Turkish trademark action
Ed Madden BL | 07 April 2009 | Guests
Ed Madden, BL, on a recent case in which Eli Lilly claimed that the manner in which a UK-based pharmacy business dealt with its Turkish products was an infringement of its trademarks. Eli Lilly (‘Lilly’), the large, worldwide pharmaceutical company,... Read more
Thoughts on King Lear and other observations
G.B. | 06 April 2009 | The Inside Back
A friend and I went to see King Lear at the Helix last week. It was closing night for a play that received, unexpectedly, really wonderful reviews. I never read any of those reviews: I only heard people say it... Read more
Pass the sprouts and the medical education
Ellen E. Grace | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Ellen E. Grace writes that nearly all of her family suffers from the peculiar and incurable condition of Medicus Superious Improbabilis. My great-grandfather was a psychiatrist. My grandfather was a psychiatrist. My father is a surgeon and my mother is... Read more
Treating tropical travellers
Gary Culliton | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Gary Culliton speaks to Dr Graham Fry about the development of travel medicine and the services provided by the Tropical Medical Bureau. Dr Graham Fry, one of the speakers at the Irish Medical Times ‘Managing a Successful Practice’ GP seminar... Read more
Playing for laughs: if you can't be clean, be clever
Dr Charles Dupont | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Charles Dupont takes a look at what makes us laugh and examines the different types of humour that may tickle our funny bones. The appreciation of humour is intensely personal. That which provokes a hearty laugh in one produces... Read more
Treating tropical travellers
Gary Culliton | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Gary Culliton speaks to Dr Graham Fry about the development of travel medicine and the services provided by the Tropical Medical Bureau. Dr Graham Fry, one of the speakers at the Irish Medical Times ‘Managing a Successful Practice’ GP seminar... Read more
The politics of fruit flies and research
Laurence O'Dwyer | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Laurence O'Dwyer writes that research being carried out on the fruit fly, in Ireland and elsewhere, is helping to solve some of the remaining puzzles of human biology More than a century of fruit-fly research has helped us to unlock... Read more
Playing for laughs: if you can't be clean, be clever
Dr Charles Dupont | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Dr Charles Dupont takes a look at what makes us laugh and examines the different types of humour that may tickle our funny bones. The appreciation of humour is intensely personal. That which provokes a hearty laugh in one produces... Read more
Doctor's actions were abuse of his position of trust
Ed Madden | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Ed Madden, BL, on a recent Fitness to Practice panel hearing in which the Panel considered the case of a doctor who had attempted to form an emotional relationship with a patient. On August 16, 2007, Ann (not her real... Read more
Dealing with fixed-term contracts of employment
Beauchamps | 06 April 2009 | Guests
Darine Walsh of Beauchamps Solicitors writes that there can be no less favourable treatment of a fixed-term employee than a comparable permanent employee under Irish law. Employers often employ workers on a fixed term or temporary basis. Common reasons for... Read more
Exercise initiative aims to encourage older people
Dara Gantly | 03 April 2009 | Guests
Dara Gantly reports on an initiative in Co. Carlow that aims to involve more older people in health-related fitness and recreational sport. One of country’s leading specialists in age-related healthcare has backed a new development in Carlow aimed at promoting... Read more
Plans for PCTs press ahead
Niamh Mullen | 03 April 2009 | Guests
Eight years after the Government promised a system of one-stop shops for healthcare, 107 primary care teams (PCTs) are up and running but there are only six centres housing full teams. The established teams are established in 23 counties (Monaghan,... Read more
Getting advice – not giving it – on depression
Terence Cosgrave | 03 April 2009 | Guests
Over one hundred delegates from general practice in Ireland attended theIrish Medical Timesseminar at the Herbert Park Hotel last Saturday to hear a panel of experts advise them on how to manage their practices through the recession — or is... Read more
Getting advice – not giving it – on depression
Terence Cosgrave | 03 April 2009 | Guests
Over one hundred delegates from general practice in Ireland attended theIrish Medical Timesseminar at the Herbert Park Hotel last Saturday to hear a panel of experts advise them on how to manage their practices through the recession — or is... Read more
A benchmark or black mark for Irish hospitals?
Dr Mick Molloy | 03 April 2009 | Mick Molloy
Dr Mick Molloy writes that a lot of variables come into play when looking at the new HealthStat data. Last week, the HSE launched HealthStat – apparently a comprehensive accumulation of performance-related data from 29 teaching, regional and general hospitals.... Read more
Take a welcome break from reality
Dr Garrett FitzGerald | 03 April 2009 | Garrett FitzGerald
Dr Garrett FitzGerald writes that reality is vastly overrated, so you might as well create a nicer place where you can escape to until all this talk of recession is over. Reality is the most over-rated commodity of the lifestyle... Read more
Irish doctor was ahead of his time
Marie-Catherine Mousseau | 03 April 2009 | Guests
Marie-Catherine Mousseau on the life of Dr Robert Bentley Todd, the Irish doctor whose contribution to the understanding of epilepsy was immense. Robert Bentley Todd is best remembered for Todd’s paralysis, or post-epileptic paralysis – the temporary stiffening of the... Read more
Students get with the programme
Dr John Ryan | 03 April 2009 | Letter from America
Dr John Ryan writes that the interview process is very different when you are on the other side of the desk, and that informal conversations can make a difference. When I was first asked by a work colleague if I... Read more
St John of God's foundation letter is discovered
03 April 2009 | Guests
A recently discovered letter has revealed the extent to which Fr Thomas McNamara played a role in the founding of St John of God Hospital. He is little known outside of Castleknock College and the Irish Congregation of the Mission,... Read more
This time, it's personal
Terence Cosgrave | 03 April 2009 | Editorial
Terence Cosgrave wonders if the never-ending Budget saga will re-hash the same old script or show us something new. Early next week, we are going to see a production of Budget 4: The Final Reckoning and, like all sequels, we... Read more
Strategy for care in the north west is unworkable
Killian McLoughlin | 03 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor The campaign for Sligo’s cancer services is very concerned about the results issued recently by the Health Service Executive’s own new hospital rating system. By its own criteria, University College Hospital Galway came in the bottom four out... Read more
Media must give positive images of breastfeeding
Nollaig Rowan | 03 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor, One of the reasons, cited in a recent report, for low breastfeeding rates in Ireland (IMT 13.2.’09, www.imt.ie/news/2009/03/coombe_study_reveals_low_breas.html) is mothers’ embarrassment of breastfeeding in public places. Your article mentions the positive role media can play and I agree... Read more
Determining the Gospels' age
M.G. Salter | 03 April 2009 | Letters
Dear Editor, I presume that Dr Masood, in his mention of the encounter between Christ and Satan (IMT March 6, www.imt.ie/opinion/2009/03/the_devil_is_in_the_detail_of.html), since he refers to Jesus as ‘the slave of God’ rather than the son, is using the Koran as... Read more
Toolkit helps staff improve care
Nycomed | 03 April 2009 | Guests
A toolkit developed by the NHS Institution for Innovation and Development is improving the experience of patients with diabetes in UK hospitals. The success of a tool that was trialled at five NHS hospitals to help staff improve the care... Read more
RA 'cure' a possibility
Greg Baxter | 01 April 2009 | Guests
Greg Baxter writes that treating rheumatoid arthritis early and aggressively may cure some patients. New evidence supports the argument that treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with expensive and aggressive biologic therapy could save money in the long run, because doing... Read more