HSE CEO Prof Brendan Drumm has claimed no travel or subsistence expenses as part of his ex-officio membership of the Executive’s Board, Irish Medical Times has learned.

Giovanni Morelli has some tips on wines to drink during the Christmas holidays, and a few wine books you might like to send him as gifts {openx:269} Can’t we just get rid of wine lists? Do we really have to be reminded every time we go out to a nice restaurant that we have no idea what we are doing?

Despite having a ‘relationship’ with Tiger Woods for some years, Dr Garrett FitzGerald still needs Santa to bring him a new machine to slow down the golfer’s swing to ten million frames per second if he is to learn from the master {openx:269} I have been involved with Tiger for some years now – and I’m not yet willing to

Four months after purchasing an iPhone, my level of connectedness with the world has probably increased a hundred-fold.

Dear Editor, The headline in a recent edition of Irish Medical Times (December 4, 2009) of ‘Young GPs usually treat themselves’ should really have read ‘All doctors usually treat themselves’.

Dear Editor, I see the Department of Health is considering a hotline for Oirechtas members to follow their constituents’ medical card applications (Irish Medical Times, December 11 2009).

Patient resistance, insufficient time, a lack of funding and training are the main barriers GPs see to counselling patients about their bad habits such as smoking, drinking and being overweight.

There’s some good news and bad news from the health service this week.

In response to the hygiene report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) on the Midwestern Regional Hospital, the HSE has acknowledged that hygiene standards in the hospital are ‘deeply unsatisfactory’.

The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) is seeking submissions on a proposed new licensing system for homeopathic medicines.