The Irish Medical Council (IMC) has said concerns around patient safety remain with the introduction of the so-called “passport to practise” for the competent authorities within the European Network of Medical Competent Authorities (ENMCA).

The Medical Protection Society (MPS) has welcomed proposed legislation to introduce a pre-action protocol in clinical negligence claims, following the recent proposal by the Minister for Justice and Equality of an amendment to the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011 to allow its introduction.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is concerned that blood supplies will be difficult between now and the Christmas to New Year period and is urging donors to make a special effort to give blood during this time, IMT reports.

Owing to continuing budget cuts, no further discussions have taken place since 2008 on getting GPs in Dundalk to join the North East Doctor On-Call Service (NEDOC) co-operative service, IMT reports.

There is no stimulus for ward-based nurses to encourage patients who are fit to go home or to facilitate discharge, Gary Culliton reports.

Although the total number of cancers continues to rise, mainly due to the ageing of our population, the risk for men of developing cancer, which had been rising steadily since at least 1994, may now be plateauing, suggests the latest annual report from the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI).

Almost two people died each day in Ireland during 2013 from poisoning (overdose), trauma or medical causes linked with drug use, latest Health Research Board (HRB) figures show.

The importance of the maternal grandmother (MGM) in the childhood obesity epidemic has been highlighted in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study, released at last week’s RCPI Faculty of Public Health Medicine Winter Scientific Meeting.

New guidance on the Rural Practice Allowance (RPA) is to ensure “consistency, transparency and fairness in decision-making” in respect of the relevant discretionary provisions of the GMS contract pertaining to the granting or otherwise of the allowance to new applicants, the HSE has said.

Irish people aged over 50 are now more likely to be active than inactive, which should benefit them health wise, according to a new survey from Age & Opportunity’s Go for Life and Sport Ireland.