The acute hospital sector (including Palliative Care) is reporting a deficit of €104.

All hospitals should have strategies for dealing with palliative, end-of-life care and bereavement, a new report from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children has urged.

The current and future role of the public health specialist in Ireland, including the appropriate skill mix in relation to public health functions, should be the subject of a new probe, it has been recommended.

A radiography post at St Dympna’s Hospital, Carlow, has been identified locally as a critical post for filling and a process to progress the backfilling is under way, the HSE said.

Cork University Hospital (CUH) is experiencing difficult in recruiting nurses to fill vacancies that have arisen via retirements and resignations.

MSF’s Dr Daniela Belén Garone highlights the need for improved access to and availability of life-saving medication in African countries such as Malawi.

With trips to Florence, Siena, Rome to report on, Giovanni Morelli is back on Italian soil to taste some Pinot Bianco, new white wine from Terreno and a Hofstätter Pinot Bianco, among others.

Open letter to US Congressman Bob Goodlatte.

Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Ciaran Somers examines the practical realities of online patient records, and how instant access across locations can improve services and benefit patients.

Ed Madden, BL, looks at a recent High Court case in which the HSE challenged an Employment Appeals Tribunal ruling that a consultant’s claim his pay had been unlawfully deducted was not time-barred under the terms of the Payment of Wages Act.