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Opinion: February 2010

Incentives needed for strategy delivery

Gary Culliton | 26 February 2010 | Guests

Gary Culliton reports on the Oireachtas Joint Health Committee's recommendations to rejuvenate the flagging Primary Care Strategy... Read more

Engagement with NTPF still 'patchy'

Gary Culliton | 26 February 2010 | Guests

Gary Culliton writes that a number of hospitals still have unacceptably long waiting lists that could be dealt with under the NTPF... Read more

HPAT-Ireland: too far, too fast?

Dr Gerard Crotty | 26 February 2010 | Guests

The HPAT may actually be less inclusive than the Leaving Certificate system and should have been introduced gradually, writes Dr Gerard Crotty... Read more

HPAT redirects obsession with Leaving Cert points

Dr Siún O’Flynn | 26 February 2010 | Guests

The Leaving Cert indirectly rewards desirable traits in future doctors, while the HPAT was devised to directly measure suitability for a career in medicine. Dr Siún O’Flynn reports... Read more

Sick building syndrome

Dara Gantly | 26 February 2010 | Editorial

Dara Gantly believes the relocation of the Department of Health from Hawkins House is long overdue... Read more

Unsung heroes bring relief to disaster zone

Dr Mick Molloy | 26 February 2010 | Mick Molloy

Dr Mick Molloy highlights the work being done by volunteers in Haiti on his return from an aid mission in the devastated country... Read more

The hospitals' tills ring out ding-a-ling

Dr Garrett FitzGerald | 25 February 2010 | Garrett FitzGerald

The writing has appeared on the medical walls of our public hospitals and the doctors have been the first to see it, says Dr Garrett FitzGerald... Read more

The shafting of Navan

Dr Ruairi Hanley | 25 February 2010 | Guests

In the first of his new weekly columns for Irish Medical Times, Dr Ruairi Hanley says he belives the HSE has a seven-step plan to downgrading hospitals across the country... Read more

O’Leary is to business as Stalin is to totalitarianism

G.B. | 25 February 2010 | The Inside Back

Michael O’Leary has really lost it this time. This is absolutely bonkers. And members of the Opposition who try to gain political capital from a mess that does not exist outside of O’Leary’s head should be warned that their self-respect... Read more

Time to rethink use of BMI as predictor of cardiac disease

25 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, With so many hospitals and aesthetic clinics in Ireland now providing obesity reduction as a therapy, physicians have a responsibility to their patients to estimate their risk of a future cardiovascular event. The most common method of assessing... Read more

Medical students to be 'tagged' at UCC event

25 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, This Saturday, February 27, the UCC Medical Society will breathe life into the Irish Medical Rugby Intervarsity. Once the event of every medical student’s calendar, it’s set to do the same again. Bringing students from the nation’s medical... Read more

Human rights group's call for abortion guidelines is 'selective' and 'limited '

25 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, An article in a recent edition of Irish Medical Times (February 12) informs us that the group Human Rights Watch has essentially called for legislation for abortion in Ireland. I assume they agree to the right to life.... Read more

Doctors should be aware of 'wider need' on costs

25 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, The recent announcement of significant reductions in prices of long-established medicines could produce significant savings for our public health service and for individual private patients. Here are two examples (manufacturing price) comparing older and newer drugs. Statins Lipostat... Read more

Advocate General gives opinion on prescribing

Ed Madden, BL | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Ed Madden, BL, on the opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice on a case concerning prescribing incentive schemes for UK GPs operated by Primary Care Trusts... Read more

A simple journey to Inishturk turns rough and windy

Prof Tim O'Brien | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Prof Tim O'Brien recalls a 1964 trip from Louisburg to Inishturk, which left a Dublin man stranded on the island forever — by choice... Read more

Treatment guidelines to go 'on the couch'

Dr John Wallace | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Dr John Wallace examines the proposed changes in the draft criteria for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders... Read more

New disorder for children labelled 'bipolar' proposed

Dara Gantly | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Dara Gantly examines some of the headline changes suggested in the draft criteria for DSM-5... Read more

New disorder for children labelled 'bipolar' proposed

Dara Gantly | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Dara Gantly examines some of the headline changes suggested in the draft criteria for DSM-5... Read more

Integrated targets for successful recovery

Mike Power | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Mike Power looks at the psychological influences on a patient's recovery from major surgery or illness and stresses the importance of having an integrated care plan... Read more

Weight loss clinics can achieve results

23 February 2010 | Guests

A father and son tell how they transformed their lives with the help of obesity expert Dr Eva Orsmond, who believes that with the right support, education and motivation, anyone can achieve weight loss and live a healthier life... Read more

Nursing homes vulnerable to HCAIs

Gary Culliton | 23 February 2010 | Guests

A new report from the RCPI aims to highlight the challenges associated with HCAIs in long-term care settings, writes Gary Culliton... Read more

Leading the way in education at home and abroad

Niamh Mullen | 23 February 2010 | Guests

Niamh Mullen reports that independence and expansion abroad has been key to the enduring success of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland... Read more

Is there a robot in the house?

23 February 2010 | Guests

The Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar has become the first hospital in Ireland to have a stroke patient 'telemedically' treated by a specialist stroke physician... Read more

How to protect your practice

23 February 2010 | Guests

Irish Medical Times, in asociation with AstraZeneca and Helix Health, presents a new seminar for GPs next month on medico-legal issues relating to general practice... Read more

A corporate culture

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Editorial

Dara Gantly believes the Joint Oireachtas Committee is right to reject the corporatisation of primary care... Read more

Autumn target set for co-located hospitals

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Guests

HSE National Service Plan 2010 The Health Service Executive (HSE) hopes construction will start on the co-located hospitals at Cork University Hospital (CUH), the Mid-Western Regional Hospital (MWRH) in Limerick, Beaumont and St James’s by the fourth quarter of 2010,... Read more

Primary care cannot replace 1,000 beds from acute sector

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Guests

HSE National Service Plan 2010 Rolling out primary care centres and chronic disease management strategies cannot compensate for the loss of 1,000 beds in the acute hospital sector, the IMO has warned. Responding to the HSE’s new service plan, Vice... Read more

95% consultant compliance sought on public/private mix

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Guests

HSE National Service Plan 2010 New performance indicators in the areas of access to treatment, waiting times, service-user involvement, staff workload and clinical care will all be measured for the first time in 2010. The HSE wants 95 per cent... Read more

95 per cent target set for MMR vaccines

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Guests

HSE National Service Plan 2010 The HSE wants the number of children 24 months of age who have received the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine to increase by 6 per cent in 2010. The 95 per cent completion rate... Read more

One tenth of HSE staff are ‘at risk’ of leaving

Dara Gantly | 19 February 2010 | Guests

HSE National Service Plan 2010 The HSE has warned that up to 13,000 employees (11 per cent) in the HSE or HSE-funded agencies could leave the health service this year. The warning is contained in the new HSE service plan... Read more

Trying out the HPAT — the doctors' views

Niamh Mullen | 19 February 2010 | Guests

HPAT - Special report A GP, consultant paediatrician and psychiatrist were brave enough to try some HPAT questions and give us their thoughts. Niamh Mullen reports... Read more

Question styles require a different approach to HPAT

19 February 2010 |

HPAT - Special Report Irish Medical Times has partnered with the Institute of Education to bring you a second week of sample questions from the Institute’s HPAT mock materials... Read more

A Brazilian bad thoughts could be eliminated

Garrett FitzGerald | 18 February 2010 | Garrett FitzGerald

With the average head producing 70,000 thoughts per day, many of which are ‘bad’, Dr Garrett FitzGerald believes a return to the confessional is required... Read more

Stop playing the blame game

Dr Mark Hannon | 18 February 2010 | Mark Hannon

Dr Mark Hannon wonders why people are carrying signs that read 'tax the rich!' when, during all of the Celtic Tiger era, their sole pursuit was becoming wealthy... Read more

Fear and worry in the GP surgery

Dr Paul Heslin | 18 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Paul Heslin argues that the public's growing distrust of medical professionals makes it hard to tell them they are wrong about an illness they perceive... Read more

Some thoughts on the art of literary reviewing

G.B. | 18 February 2010 | The Inside Back

I’ve started writing book reviews for the Irish Times, and in a few weeks I’ll be on a panel at the Dublin Book Festival talking, from what I know so far, about the art of literary reviewing. Since I am... Read more

Dismantling of the NUI will threaten university standards

18 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, As a retired head of a medical school department in the National University of Ireland (NUI), I consider that dismantling the organisation, intended by the Minister for Education, could well lead to low standards and abuse by vested... Read more

Emergency training in developing countries

18 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, I am a consultant in Emergency Medicine in AMNCH, Tallaght and run a charitable organisiation called Global Emergency Care Skills (GECS). GECS was founded in 2008 as a voluntary, non-profit organisation with a core objective of providing emergency... Read more

Care for dying patients

18 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) wholeheartedly supports Dr Liam O’Siorain in his call for medical cards to be automatically given to people who are terminally ill (IMT 29/1/2010, see www.imt.ie/news/2010/01/automatic_medical_cards_for_dy.html). The IHF made a similar recommendation in its... Read more

Doctor’s claim was out of time

Ed Madden, BL | 17 February 2010 | Guests

Ed Madden, BL, on a case in which a doctor appealed against a decision that his claims under fixed-term work legislation were submitted outside of the time limits... Read more

Consumers are king when it comes to salt

Brian Herron | 17 February 2010 | Guests

A new study shows that reducing just 3g of salt intake from our daily diet could dramatically decrease the chances of heart disease, writes Brian Herron... Read more

Past pupils make their mark in medicine

Niamh Mullen | 17 February 2010 | Guests

RCSI 200th Anniversary Niamh Mullen writes that in its 200-year history, the RCSI has seen many famous doctors pass through its doors on St Stephen's Green... Read more

Medical history meets modern technology

Niamh Mullen | 17 February 2010 | Guests

RCSI 200th Anniversary Niamh Mullen finds that the RCSI Library holds many treasures, but also offers a modern information service and a virtual library to students and alumni... Read more

From a band of barbers to two centuries of surgery

Niamh Mullen | 17 February 2010 | Guests

RCSI 200th Anniversary 2010 marks the bicentenary of one of Dublin’s most imposing buildings. Niamh Mullen reports on 200 years of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on St Stephen’s Green... Read more

Expert tips on conducting successful medical research

17 February 2010 | Guests

In order for doctors to progress in their careers, it is usually necessary for them to be involved in, and contribute to, research within their field. We offer some guidelines for medical doctors entering the world of research... Read more

Children and medical treatment

Aisling Gannon | 17 February 2010 | Guests

Aisling Gannon, Partner and Head of Healthcare at Beauchamps Solicitors, on the law concerning medical treatment as it applies to those aged under 18 years... Read more

On-line portal for radiology reports

Niamh Mullen | 17 February 2010 | Guests

Niamh Mullen reports on a secure on-line portal from Euromedic Ireland which allows GPs across the country to access patient data from radiologists... Read more

First past the post

Dr Amin A. Muhammad | 17 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Amin A. Muhammad compares the interview processes for recruiting psychiatric consultants in Ireland, the UK and Canada... Read more

Rediscovering the Chenin Blanc

Giovanni Morelli | 17 February 2010 | Guests

Giovanni Morelli explores the Loire Valley and surrounding areas to find ideal wines for different meals, and reduced budgets... Read more

When vaccines go viral

Dara Gantly | 12 February 2010 | Editorial

Dara Gantly finds that, when it comes to vaccines, both the medical and lay press can play a multitude of roles... Read more

HPAT to engender a better balance?

Niamh Mullen | 12 February 2010 | Guests

In the second part of IMT's HPAT series, Niamh Mullen looks at the controversial suggestion that the test was developed to balance gender in medical schools... Read more

Some top tips for students from the HPAT expert

Brian Herron | 12 February 2010 | Guests

Brian Herron gets some advice from the Institute of Education's David Ball about how best to prepare for sitting the HPAT later this month... Read more

Irish surgeons to form more than skeleton crew

Dara Gantly | 12 February 2010 | Guests

Dara Gantly reports on how a team of Irish surgeons and other medics are planning to help treat victims of the Haitian earthquake... Read more

Tax reliefs to be cut for nip-and-tucks

Gary Culliton | 12 February 2010 | Guests

Gary Culliton reports on last week's Finance Bill and looks at the effects it will have on doctors and on healthcare in Ireland... Read more

Abortion laws criticised by human rights group

Brian Herron | 12 February 2010 | Guests

A new report puts Ireland's abortion laws under international scrutiny and is very critical of the Government's lack of action on the issue, writes Brian Herron... Read more

Set yourself up for success with sample HPAT questions

11 February 2010 | Guests

HPAT Special Report The best way to prepare for the HPAT is to be familiar with the types of questions that will be asked. Here are sample questions from each of the test sections... Read more

Dodging the only Suir thing in this life

Dr Garrett FitzGerald | 11 February 2010 | Garrett FitzGerald

Dr Garrett FitzGerald works out the formula to predict the likelihood of dying within the year if you are a resident in Tipp... Read more

Surely only a dope would condone drugs in music?

Dr John Ryan | 11 February 2010 | Letter from America

Dr John Ryan wonders why it is deemed acceptable for musicians and artists to take drugs, even though drugtaking in sport is so roundly condemned... Read more

Big vision... but small change

Dr Anna Data and Justin Frewen | 11 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Anna Data and Justin Frewen believe A Vision for Change still lacks an effective implementation plan, some four years after its publication... Read more

Assessing future tax implications for locums

Geraldine Corcoran | 11 February 2010 | Guests

With changes to how Revenue focuses on locum work mooted, tax expert Geraldine Corcoran examines how to determine employment status and looks at the plans to deal with medical locums differently... Read more

My estate is just about to be like Escape from New York

G.B. | 11 February 2010 | The Inside Back

Around the office, dozens of little restaurants and cafes have been shutting their doors over the last few weeks. It seems like one or two closes every day. The other day, an old friend came to meet me for lunch.... Read more

GP units are central to delivery of primary care

11 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, Re: the letters of Drs O’Doherty (IMT, January 1-8, 2010) and Kelly (IMT, January 29, 2010). I would like to thank the GP/primary care unit in South Mall, Cork for the support that they have given over the... Read more

Guide contradicts basis to conscientiously object due to religion

11 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, The 2009 Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics has three points on conscientious objection. At present, there is a widespread assault on medical conscientious objection in the UK and the US, to the extent that doctors with established... Read more

Spin on privatised health service by HSE needs 'piercing'

11 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, The HSE’s National Director of Integrated Services — Performance and Financial Management, Laverne McGuinness, seems to equate low hospital admission-rates with ‘quality, effective service’. This is delusional. Fewer people, an estimated 53,000, will receive the care they need... Read more

Hospital worker wins appeal in needlestick injury case

Ed Madden, BL | 09 February 2010 | Guests

Ed Madden, BL, looks at a recent Northern Ireland Court of Appeal case in which a hospital worker sustained a needlestick injury and suffered adjustment disorder as a result... Read more

Three bed sheets to the wind in St Pius Ward

Dr Darragh Little | 09 February 2010 | Guests

Limerick GP Dr Darragh Little recalls the sorry tale of the Bird Whelan and how his hospital shenanigans ended up intoxicating Sister Gonzaga... Read more

Cutbacks threaten disease monitoring

Gary Culliton | 09 February 2010 | Guests

The latest HPSC Annual Report warns that cutbacks could negatively effect the detection of infectious diseases, writes Gary Culliton... Read more

Meal sizes a problem of growing proportions

09 February 2010 | Guests

Researchers at the University of Ulster have found that even in the very short term, eating large portions will lead to an increase in a person's weight... Read more

Sligo targets coeliacs and haemochromatosis

Gary Culliton | 09 February 2010 | Guests

Gary Culliton looks at how Sligo General is benefitting from bringing patient testing for coeliac disease and haemochromatosis back in-house... Read more

The doctors' dictionary

Mike Power | 09 February 2010 | Guests

Mike Power, Clinical Psychologist, examines the practical significance of the commonly used medical term, 'the placebo effect'... Read more

A prescription to end confusion

Valerie Ryan | 09 February 2010 | Guests

Valerie Ryan offers some guidelines for doctors to ensure better communication with patients and make clearer the medical message... Read more

Today, tonight and tomorrow for consultants

Dara Gantly | 05 February 2010 | Editorial

Dara Gantly examines what the HSE has in store for those consultants identified as having exceeded their specified private practice ratio... Read more

Ensuring health equality for all of Europe’s women

Dara Gantly | 05 February 2010 | Guests

Dara Gantly examines a new report that gives a snap-shot of the health of women across the EU... Read more

Hospital hygiene needs some help

Gary Culliton | 05 February 2010 | Guests

Gary Culliton investigates the latest findings of the HIQA spot-check reports to see which hospitals have the most serious hygiene problems... Read more

Getting entry into Irish medical schools down pat

Niamh Mullen | 05 February 2010 | Guests

HPAT: SPECIAL REPORT - In the first part of our series on the HPAT exam and with this year's test fast approaching, Niamh Mullen charts the introduction of the much-talked-about admissions test for medical school since it was recommended four... Read more

Testing times for medical students

Brian Herron | 05 February 2010 | Guests

HPAT: SPECIAL REPORT - When the Working Group for Medical Education sought to develop a strategy to diversify the mix of entrants to medical schools, it had international experience from which to draw, writes Brian Herron... Read more

Opening our natural selection boxes

Dr Garrett FitzGerald | 04 February 2010 | Garrett FitzGerald

While every unhappy family may be unhappy in its own way, Dr Garrett FitzGerald discovered some common genetic traits at Christmas... Read more

Detecting Columbo's 'just one more thing'

Dr Paul Heslin | 04 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Paul Heslin knows there is nothing quite as annoying for a busy doctor as the last-minute medical query as the patient is about to exit the surgery... Read more

Thoughts on the death of JD Salinger

G.B. | 04 February 2010 | The Inside Back

I didn’t even know JD Salinger was still alive until recently, when his lawyers stopped publication of a book, written by a bit of a self-professed jokester hack, about Holden Caulfield as a grown-up. I think that was last year.... Read more

Competition may in fact lead to higher GP fees

04 February 2010 | Letters

Copy of letter sent to Mr Declan Purcell, Competition Authority. Dear Mr Purcell, I would like to query the basis of recent claims by yourself and the Competition Authority [as reported in IMT, January 1&8, 2010, page 8]. Twenty years... Read more

Taking stock of the ‘Newry effect’ in drugs

04 February 2010 | Letters

Dear Editor, Many of our patients are at present under severe financial pressures. This week, I spoke to one patient who stopped their statin (ten-year risk 18 per cent) because it was too expensive, and to another patient who stopped... Read more

Limited industrial action and the law

Ed Madden, BL | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Ed Madden, BL, on a court case in which the judge considered whether an employer is entitled to suspend employees engaged in industrial action and withhold salary payments... Read more

Seeing South Africa with a stethoscope

Dr Cillian Clancy | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Cillian Clancy experienced first hand how South Africa's health system still suffers from a form of apartheid, based now on a patient's ability to pay... Read more

Suspension follows bizarre sports 'injury'

Dr Simon Mills | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Simon Mills tells the story of a cheating incident at the quarter final of the Heineken Cup, and the cover-up attempt that got a doctor suspended... Read more

A legend in infectious disease remembered

Dr Robert O'Sullivan | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Dr Robert O'Sullivan writes that for all his discoveries and innovations, what set Charles Donovan apart was his never-failing humanity... Read more

New landmark sculpture for St James's Hospital

Dr John Wallace | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Dr John Wallace reports on a sculpture by the artist Eamonn O’Doherty, to be unveiled at the entrance to St James’s Hospital in Dublin... Read more

Health and safety at work

Dermot Casserly | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Dermot Casserly, Partner, Beauchamps Solicitors, outlines the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees under Irish health and safety legislation... Read more

Wines to warm the heart in cold weather

Giovanni Morelli | 03 February 2010 | Guests

Giovanni Morelli recommends some good-value Tuscan wines that are now available in Ireland, to make the cold winter days a bit more bearable... Read more

Dr Geoffrey Dean — 1918-2009

Dermot Walsh | 03 February 2010 | Guests

In the early 1960s, the Irish Government invited Henning Friis, Director of the Danish Institute of Social Studies, to Ireland to advise on the investigation of those medical problems that had a significant social dimension. The result was the setting... Read more

Dr John Patrick McCormack — 1910-2010

03 February 2010 | Guests

Dr John Patrick McCormack died peacefully in Blackrock Abbey Nursing Home, in Dundalk, on January 15, 2010, having reached his 100th year. He was born in Omeath, Co Louth on October 6, 1910 and passed his Leaving Certificate with honours... Read more