[Letter to Examiner >>>] Martin Hayes: “When it comes to our health services it seems that we are so consumed with intricate processes, complicated logistics and sophisticated medical technology that we can no longer relate to people, especially people who…
Novus Medica
Medical news service from Penhire
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Dr Karl Knapman on getting into medical school
Sir, – I agree with Dr Chris Luke’s view (August 29th) that graduate entry medical students bring a wealth of experience to the health system and should be welcomed. However, I do take issue with him blaming the younger “gap-year”…
Trolley problem: letters to Times
Sir, – As a consultant radiologist working in Tallaght hospital for the past 10 years, I am concerned at the biased attention the hospital is receiving in the media in recent years. As head of the department of radiology during…
Closure of acute psychiatric unit to proceed
HE HSE is to proceed with the closure of an acute psychiatric unit in Tipperary within the next eight months and transfer inpatient beds to adjoining counties. Confirmation of the impending closure of the 49-bed St Michael’s Unit in Clonmel…
Nurses say overcrowding at Beaumont must be tackled
URGENT ACTION is needed to alleviate overcrowding in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, an organisation representing hundreds of hospital staff has said. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said 800 of its members working in the hospital have, in recent meetings, voiced…
Regulator seeks more information on Novartis drug
Novartis has been asked to give a US regulator more clinical data on its prospective gouty arthritis treatment and potential blockbuster, Ilaris, so that it can evaluate the benefit-risk profile in a subset of patients. The Swiss drugmaker said today…
‘Eliquis’ drug may dominate blood-thinner market
Pfizer’s and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Eliquis will lead the market for stroke-preventing blood thinners after “best-in-class” clinical trial results that marry safety with effectiveness, analysts said. The twice-daily pill had a 31 per cent lower risk of major bleeding, a feared…
Shining a healing light on skin problems
Visible red veins can undermine confidence, but laser-light therapy offers a solution. The procedure was performed by Sinéad Gallagher, a qualified nurse with a higher diploma in wound management and tissue viability. She established Renew Aesthetic Clinic on Hatch Street,…
Blood pressure rises as health spending falls
An excellent example of how clinical care can be made more cost effective came with last week’s publication by both the Lancet and the National Institute of Clinical Evidence (NICE) of new guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of high…
Roscommon’s expanded day services ‘to cut waiting lists’
HSE WEST says its new plans for expanded day services at Roscommon County Hospital will serve a wider catchment area and help to reduce waiting lists in the region. A new endoscopy unit and specialities in maxillofacial surgery, rheumatology and…
Surgeons’ skills key in bowel cancer surgery
Professor of surgery at the North Hampshire Hospital and surgical director of the Pelican Cancer Centre, Basingstoke, RJ Heald said a high standard of precision surgery should be available to everybody who gets colorectal cancer. Prof Heald will deliver the…
Private hospital in Limerick set to increase staff 20%
Barringtons Hospital yesterday confirmed the jobs increase through additional beds and the opening up of a new theatre at its Limerick city hospital. A hospital spokeswoman confirmed the expansion when commenting on new figures that showed pre-tax profits at the…
TD demands answers on Galway A&E overcrowding
Galway TD Derek Nolan has said that he will be demanding answers from management at Galway’s University Hospital after complaints about conditions at the emergency department there. The clinical director of the hospital and the Registrar of the A&E will…
Actelion drug ‘safe at high dose’
Actelion’s key experimental drug macitentan proved to be safe at a high dose even though it failed to reach its goal in a mid-stage trial in a potentially deadly lung disease, the Swiss biotech group said today. Actelion has decided…
Scientists find probiotics reduce stress
SCIENTISTS IN Cork believe they have proved that consuming probiotic bacteria can alter brain chemistry involved in stress and anxiety. “This is the first time it has been shown that probiotics in the gut can directly affect the brain,” said…
Examiner for medical software companies
Yesterday at the High Court, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan confirmed Eamonn Richardson of KPMG as examiner to Irish Medical Systems Holdings Ltd and Irish Medical Systems Computers Ltd, both of Clara House, Glenageary Park, Dublin, and the UK-registered Integrated Medical…
Roscommon still waiting on advanced paramedics
Only one additional advanced paramedic trained to administer life-saving treatment has been deployed in Roscommon since the hospital’s emergency department was closed last month. (Business Post) >>>
Posted in Auxillary services, Roscommon
St Pat’s study sheds light on codeine
The abuse of over-the-counter codeine products has not been the subject of a great deal of research but one study, carried out by St Patrick’s psychiatric hospital in Dublin, has shed some light on the addiction. The researchers looked at…
One fifth of babies still not getting health check on time
NEARLY one in five infants are still not getting the free health checks they are entitled to before they reach 10 months because of a shortage of key staff. Dr Alf Nicholson, a paediatrician in Temple Street hospital, Dublin, said…
Dr Chris Luke on getting into medical school
Sir, – I must take issue with Dr Niall Conroy (August 25th) who seeks “redistribution” of medical school places in favour of Leaving Certificate students, rather than graduate entrants. His case is that “some of the finest minds in the…
Customers abandon health cover
The numbers of people giving up private health insurance has soared this year. Some 43,000 customers abandoned cover in the six months between January and June. This compares with a drop of 37,000 for the whole of 2009, and 31,000…
Time for all in health sector to feel the pain
It has dodged, shuffled and side-stepped for three years now. So will the Health Service Executive (HSE) finally call the hospital consultants, which it is accusing of treating too many private patients, to account? Even if the methodology is faulty, doctors with…
Consultants refuse to pay fines for breaking private practice quotas
A GROUP of 70 highly paid hospital consultants have refused to comply with a HSE demand to hand back thousands of euros in fees as a penalty for treating too many private patients. Martin Varley, secretary general of the Irish…
Shock 40pc rise in hospital waiting lists
[From Independent >>>] THE number of patients on hospital waiting lists has surged to 26,082 — a rise of 40pc since the start of last year, the National Treatment Purchase Fund’s annual report has revealed. There were 18,517 in hospital…
Doctor tells of wish list for health service
THE UK-BASED Irish doctor who was the original choice to be the first head of the Health Service Executive has said he would have focused on “re-enthusing compassion and listening” if he had taken the job. Speaking at a symposium…
3D animated images for medical sector
PICTURES OF human torsos stripped clean of flesh to reveal the skeleton and organs; red blood cells racing along arteries; or skulls opened to reveal intact brains are all easily conjured up on your desktop with the help of the…
Mental health and absenteeism
[Letter to the editor] “We found that 48 per cent would conceal a diagnosis from a co-worker and 47 per cent believe that a diagnosis would harm job prospects. While depression is the most prevalent health problem in many EU…
Man in agony could not see hospital doctor
A MEATH man was left waiting “for hours” in a hospital emergency unit on several occasions despite being in severe agony, an inquest had heard. He died from decompensated liver failure with cancer of the pancreas at St James’s Hospital on…
Guides released for potential kidney donors
The guides, contained in video and supporting booklets, have been compiled by the National Renal Transplantation team at Beaumont Hospital Dublin. Kidney Transplantation – a Guide for Patients explains the risks and benefits from a patient’s perspective while Thinking About…
Patients reassured on Nurofen mix-up
THE IRISH Medicines Board has said there is no evidence that batches of Nurofen Plus, which mistakenly contain blister packs of anti-psychotic drugs, have been sold in Ireland. It follows warnings to customers in Britain and Northern Ireland by the…
