Guest posts

Dr Declan Fox is currently on his regular winter locum in Canada.

Dr Simon Mills argues that the removal of the Irish Council for Bioethics will soon seem like a foolhardy, cost-cutting measure {openx:269} There are plenty of contenders for ‘cruellest cut’ and ‘most pointless expediency’ – if either award were being doled out – in the wake of the most recent Budget (sadly, those awards have been cancelled for economic reasons).

Dr Paul Heslin asks whether we should we prioritise the survival of our inflexible health system or the survival of the patient {openx:269} Boss, the staff in my department are great.

Ed Madden, BL, looks at a recent UK Employment Appeal Tribunal case in which the Tribunal found that an earlier decision that a nurse had been unfairly dismissed was ‘perverse’ {openx:269} On the evening of July 11, 2006, Laura Bowater, a senior nurse at the Central Middlesex Hospital in north-west London, had just finished a 12-hour shift at the hospital

Shane Leavy reviews the findings of the 2008 Combat Poverty report and finds that health has as much to do with the money in one’s pocket as the food in one’s fridge {openx:269} Much is made on popular health TV shows of an individual’s choice to lead a healthy lifestyle with a good diet and exercise.

Dr Muhammad Arshad and Prof Michael FitzGerald compare health policies, models and drivers, focusing on two world leaders in healthcare {openx:269} Health policy is a well-established discipline, which is being compared between different countries to provide good healthcare services to everyone.

Patricia Blunden writes that the HSE’s online Change Hub project aims to allow users to have their say on service improvement initiatives that affect them {openx:269} Research indicates that change and improvement are far more likely to succeed when change is planned and managed well, and when there is a strong emphasis on communicating and engaging with the people who

Research being carried out in Cork is modifying probiotics in order to fight antibiotic-resistant infections, in a process called patho-biotechnology {openx:269} Dr Roy Sleator, a researcher at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and Principal Investigator at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, and his team have developed a very promising new approach to tackle Clostridium difficile (C.

Aoife Connors talks to a GP who has integrated new practice management software into the daily work of a busy Dublin practice {openx:269} In May 2008 Helix Health, a provider of healthcare software, launched the Helix Practice Manager (HPM).

Gary Culliton reports on efforts by the HSE to overhaul its ‘indefensible’ ambulance service, which was condemned by the C&AG {openx:269} The Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard recently that with regard to ambulance provision, we have an ‘incredible situation, particularly in the current era’, according to Labour Deputy Tommy Broughan.