Pharmacists must now take responsibility for properly injecting the patient, but crucially must be competent to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and to administer life-saving drugs should a person suffer anaphylactic shock on their premises. The Minister has acknowledged there…
Novus Medica
Medical news service from Penhire
Monthly Archives: July 2011
Up to 40% of final-year interns set to emigrate
A SENIOR HSE official has admitted that about 40 per cent of the 102 final-year intern doctors in the HSE West area will emigrate after graduating. In a circular to members of the HSE West Forum, regional co-ordinator of acute…
Places sought for patients
HEALTH AUTHORITIES are under pressure to find alternative accommodation for dozens of patients in the acute unit of a major psychiatric hospital which is due to close by the end of next month. Last year, the State’s mental health watchdog,…
Expanding services for our expanding girths
While prevention of obesity is a key goal, consultant endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, Prof Donal O’Shea, points out that access to treatment for people with severe obesity is a basic entitlement. He heads up the State’s first…
Sacked foreign doctor was not checked out by HSE
Dr Asia Ndaga (31), who qualified as a doctor in Romania in 2008, did not get enough points in a multiple-choice entrance exam for acceptance to a training post in one of that country’s hospitals. Despite this, she was able…
No surgical negligence found at Navan
[From Irish Times] A REVIEW of four cases of keyhole gall bladder surgery carried out at a Navan hospital found no surgical negligence but recommended that more robust record keeping and communications arrangements are put in place. The independent report…
‘Hiring ban may have to be lifted to avert A&E crisis’
THE Government may have to lift its public sector recruitment ban if the crisis facing emergency department & services in the Mid-West is to be averted, junior minister Jan O’Sullivan has said. (Examiner) >>>
Reilly: No promises on Cork hospitals
THE Health Minister has predicted another “big row” over plans to transfer elective surgical procedures to small hospitals, and makes no promises on emergency reforms at Mallow and Bantry hospitals. (Examiner) >>>
40% of final-year doctors set to emigrate
Regional co-ordinator of acute services in HSE West, Chris Kane, said final-year interns are not remaining in the system here because “the working hours abroad are better with better support and training opportunities”. Ms Kane said: “Many Irish graduates are not…
Children languish on waiting lists while hospital talks stall
CRUCIAL talks between hospitals and highly paid consultants aimed at cutting long waiting lists for sick children-have been stalled for more than six months. Internal documents obtained by the Irish Independent have uncovered widespread confusion behind the Health Service Executive (HSE)-led drive as 1,287 children…
Fate of local hospitals
[Letter to Times >>>] A chara, – Over the past five years the Health Service Executive has waged an unrelenting campaign to downgrade and ultimately destroy rural hospitals throughout Ireland. Dundalk, Monaghan, Ennis and Roscommon have all fallen victim to…
Orders secured over doctor’s shares in Blackrock Hospital
An investment management services company pursuing a doctor for €1.7 million following the closure of the Cork Medical Centre yesterday secured charging orders over millions of shares held by the doctor in Blackrock Hospital Ltd. Mr Justice Peter Kelly granted…
Surgeon to be removed from register
The High Court has confirmed a recommendation that a plastic surgeon be removed from the medical register after he was found guilty of misconduct over care provided by him to a woman following breast augmentation surgery. A Medical Council fitness…
Deadly strain of antibiotic-resistant superbug detected
Dr Deirdre O’Brien, consultant clinical microbiologist at St Vincent’s, said the superbug fell into the category Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a group of well-known bacteria, including E coli, that have developed resistance to powerful antibiotics. “It is much the same…
HSE seeks to solve overtime crisis
Health service officials have confirmed the overflow move involving doctors from India and Pakistan is taking place to ensure reductions in overtime and agency staff expenditure are made. It is also expected the plan will lead to current junior doctors…
Delays to Tallaght Hospital management reform damaging
Prof Tom O’Dowd, a Tallaght- based GP, said management restructuring delays are linked to the Health Information and Quality Authority’s (HIQA) recent announcement that it is investigating emergency department issues at the hospital. Prof O’Dowd, who heads the department of…
Doctor who couldn’t take pulse had no experience
THE Romanian doctor who couldn’t take a pulse had never worked in a hospital or medical institution in her homeland, it has emerged. Dr Asia Ndaga (31), who studied medicine in Romania, was recruited as a senior house officer at…
Watchdog probes flu jab link to narcolepsy
THE country’s medicines’ watchdog is following up on 13 reports of an incurable sleeping disorder in people who received the swine flu vaccine, it was confirmed yesterday. It follows a European report that showed up to seven in every 100,000 adolescents given the swine…
Implant could ease arthritis suffering
ARTHRITIS sufferers could be spared further pain and joint damage by a tiny chip implant in their neck. One in five Irish people are affected by arthritis and support group Arthritis Ireland said any advances towards easing their pain were…
Dr Barry O’Reilly’s robotic surgical procedure
A CORK couple yesterday spoke of their delight after the birth of their daughter following a surgical procedure using robotic equipment helped reduce the risk of miscarriage. Anne (33) and Patrick O’Mahony (35) spoke of their gratitude to consultant obstetrician…
Patient spent 2,000 hours in seclusion
A MENTALLY ill patient had spent nearly 2,000 hours in seclusion while being held as an involuntary patient at St Luke’s Psychiatric Hospital in Clonmel, a judge has been told. A consultant psychiatrist said the man did not accept he…
Probe into alleged sexual assaults by former surgeon
AN inquiry into the alleged sexual assault of patients by former Drogheda surgeon Michael Shine will be conducted, Health Minister James Reilly has said. Mr Shine, who worked at Out Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda from 1964 until 1995,…
Flu vaccine Pandemrix not recommended for children
The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), issued the advice yesterday after it finalised its review of a possible link between Pandemrix vaccination and narcolepsy. This followed an increased number of reported cases of narcolepsy…
Reilly vows to bring in competency tests for EU doctors
Health Minister James Reilly yesterday promised to bring in new legislation to put an end to the “bizarre” practice of doctors from other EU countries coming to work here without undergoing a competency test. He made the pledge after the Irish Independent…
We really are [only] as old as we feel
In 1979 Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer carried out a fascinating experiment to see if changing thought patterns can slow aging. Langer assembled a group of men in their 70s and 80s for a “week of reminiscence”, a study of aging…
Dr John Tobin on treatment of medics in Bahrain
[Letter to editor >>>] Sir, – The College of Psychiatry of Ireland has expressed its concern to the embassy of Bahrain in relation to the arrest of Dr Moshen Tarif on his way to work at the Salmanyia Medical Complex…
22% increase in complaints against doctors
COMPLAINTS against doctors increased by more than a fifth last year, but people in Ireland are still less likely to complain than people in Britain, according to the Medical Council. The Medical Council’s chief executive, Caroline Spillane, said the number…
No tests for EU doctors moving here as patient complaints rise
DOCTORS from other EU countries who want to register and work in Ireland are not subject to any test of their medical skills, the Irish Independent has learned. Medical Council president Professor Kieran Murphy last night said he would not comment on a specific case. However,…
Rules on non-EU doctors adopted
RULES ALLOWING for the temporary registration of non-EU doctors have been adopted by the Medical Council following a week-long public consultation. The “supervised division” of the medical register allows doctors from outside the European Union to practise in hospital settings…
Children’s hospital application lodged with Bord Pleanála
The application has been made despite the fact the Government will not make a final decision on proceeding with the €650 million project until a review of capital spending projects is finished in September. Eilish Hardiman, head of the National…
