Irish third-level institutions are “intimately engaged with regimes that have human rights’ questions to answer”, the former head of the Bahrain campus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has said. Addressing a conference on ethics in education, Prof Tom Collins said that, while…
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Blog Archives
Call over Bahrain medical college
The Ceartas group has claimed the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain (RCSI-Bahrain) has been overseeing the teaching of medics in the troubled Arab state while some patients are tortured and doctors imprisoned. Reports from Medecins Sans Frontieres, the US-based Physicians for Human…
Medical Council denies medics’ claim
The doctors, recruited from India and Pakistan by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in 2011, claim that “discrimination and unlawful treatment has been an ongoing pattern” since their arrival. The doctors, represented by Hayes Solicitors in Dublin, have written to…
‘Unfairly treated’ Asian doctors to sue
The doctors wrote to the HSE, the department, and the council last month claiming that “discrimination and unlawful treatment has been an ongoing pattern” since they came to work in Ireland in 2011. Dr Imran Habib, a spokesperson for 260…
Bahrain government welcomes improved relations with RCSI after ethics row
The delegation was led by the RCSI’s president, Prof Patrick Broe, and its chief executive, Prof Cathal Kelly. (Times) >
Irish trainee surgeons nurse home thoughts from abroad
Most trainee surgeons who leave Ireland to improve their skills will end up returning home, in spite of significant pay reductions here, according to the president of the Royal College of Surgeons. Prof Paddy Broe says a lack of resources…
Antrim midwife who worked in Africa takes top honour
An Antrim midwife who spent two years working to improve maternity healthcare in Africa has been named Volunteer of the Year in the awards scheme organised by Volunteer Ireland. Jacqueline McAuley lectured, mentored and supervised midwifery students in Ethiopia. (Times)…
Damian McCormack on detention of medics in Bahrain
Dr Ali Alekri’s actions during the violent suppression of peaceful protests were those of a brave and responsible trauma surgeon, fulfilling his moral and ethical duties in harrowing circumstances. The “Information Authority” in Bahrain should stop believing its own propaganda…
Bahraini response to detention of medics
I would like to emphasise the legal and ethical breaches that were committed by the medical staff, none of which would be tolerated in any society. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) documented in its report these serious violations.…
Ruairi Hanley on detention of medics in Bahrain
Regrettably, as Prof Damien McCormack also points out, a number of Irish medical institutions have disgraced themselves in their reaction to these events. Truly, it beggars belief that representatives of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland paid social visits…
Persuading top Irish doctors to return home increasingly difficult, says UCD medical dean
THE DEPARTING head of UCD’s medical school has said he has found it extremely difficult to recruit top-class doctors to return to Ireland because we do not have education or health systems that function properly. Prof Bill Powderly, himself a…
Letter to Times re detention of medics in Bahrain
Sir, – Irish-trained surgeons Ali Alekri and Ghassan Dhaif were recently arrested in a pre-dawn raids, their houses was ransacked, their families terrorised. Following their first arrest they were violently tortured over a four- month period. International human rights organisations,…
Letter re retention of medics in Bahrain
Sir, – After reading the letter “Supporting medics in Bahrain”, (October 3rd) I’d like to note that the detention of some medical professionals in Salmaniya Medical Complex was due to evidence that they abused their positions, violating the ethics and…
Noreen O’Carroll on supporting medics in Bahrain
[Letter to Times >] Sir, – However bad things are in the health service in Ireland at this time, at least Irish doctors and surgeons know they would not be imprisoned without trial, tortured and convicted as criminals for providing…
Damien McCormack on defending medics in Bahrain
[Letter to the Irish Times >] Sir, – On June 14th, the Bahraini regime will issue verdicts on Irish- trained surgeons and will possibly return some or all of them to prison. They have already endured months of torture following…
Cathal Kelly on medics in Bahrain
[Letter to Irish Times >] Sir, – I write in response to Prof Eoin O’Brien’s letter (May 14th) regarding the involvement of Irish third-level institutions operating abroad in general, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in Bahrain…
Eoin O’Brien on RSCI medics in Bahrain
[Letter to Irish Times >] Sir, – In her excellent article “Why Bahraini human rights matter in Dublin”, Mary Fitzgerald (Education Today, May 8th) outlines the proposed charter for human rights for Irish universities operating overseas. It is notable that…
Highest number of overseas doctors may be in Ireland
IRELAND IS likely to have the highest number of doctors and nurses in the developed world trained overseas, a new study has suggested. In 2008, the last year for which comparable figures are available, Ireland was second in the OECD…
Defending medics in Bahrain
[Letter to Times >] Sir, – In recent days the Bahraini regime has revealed its true nature once again. On Friday security forces assaulted Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Ion Ratiu Democracy Award winner…
System of recruiting foreign doctors defended
THE HEALTH Service Executive has defended the process of recruiting doctors from India and Pakistan to help solve its staffing crisis, following the news that half of the candidates sitting clinical exams in December failed them and must return home.…
Treatment of medics in Bahrain
[Letter to Irish Times] ‘The turbulence of this period has led to the emergence of two overarching narratives of the role of medical personnel in the unrest. It is insufficient and inaccurate to report and accept only one narrative without…
Noreen O’Carroll on Treatment of medics in Bahrain
[Letter to Times >] Sir, – Prof Eoin O’Brien states that the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) is ambiguous in its assessment of events at Salmaniya Medical Complex where the doctors treated the injured pro-democracy demonstrators…
Eoin O’Brien says doctors in Bahrain merit more than platitudes
The report emphasises the failure of the colleges to join with international humanitarian groups, such as Front Line, Médecins Sans Frontières, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights in condemning the Bahraini authorities. (Times) >
Clampdown on China’s black market for organs
On the black market, the cost of a kidney transplant runs to €55,000 and a liver up to €130,000. Some wealthier people, including foreign patients, can get transplants earlier and more easily because they have the cash to pay for…
Ireland tops foreign-born medics list
New figures revealed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show 47% of all types of nurses and 35% of all grades of doctors working in Ireland have come from another jurisdiction. The details are compiled in the extensive 597-page Health…
Ireland comes top in global doctor-patient survey
The latest Doctor-Patient Global Communication Performance Survey conducted by the WIN (Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research) Network, puts Ireland in the first place in terms of doctor-patient communication effectiveness. Ireland recorded a CAT-score (Communication Assessment Tool) of 66 compared…
RCSI admits it made mistakes in Bahrain
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has conceded that it made mistakes in Bahrain regarding its treatment of medical personnel. It was responding to an article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that criticised its conduct in the…
Bahrain ‘low-key’ contacts defended
THE ROYAL College of Surgeons has defended its reaction to the jailing of six Irish-trained doctors in Bahrain saying it used “below- the-radar” contacts rather than high-profile opposition. Prof Eilís McGovern said “the positive response that has emanated from Bahrain”…
RCSI defends itself against Bahrain criticism
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has hit back at criticism of its response to the torture and trial of medical personnel in Bahrain, saying that it had ‘‘worked assiduously’’ to ensure a favourable outcome. Orthopaedic surgeon professor…
College of surgeons pressed on Bahrain
THE EDITOR of the British Medical Journal, Dr Fiona Godlee, has called on the president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to “clarify his position as a matter of urgency” in relation to the college’s links with the government…
