Tag Archives: Dr Máire Finn

Liz Constantinescu tells Jessica Quinn about her breast cancer journey and the importance of being vigilant LIZ Constantinescu recalls the day she was diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving the hospital and looking blankly at the parking ticket machine, her mind racing and wondering what had just happened. The Ennis mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 told The Clare Champion how her life was saved by a local GP and has urged women to ‘Care For Your Pair’ by being breast aware and checking their breasts regularly. Liz was diagnosed with breast cancer when her youngest child was just two years of age. Her mother had had breast cancer 25 years ago, and her fiance Gio’s mother had died from the disease, so she was aware of the need to check herself. However after the birth of her baby and breast feeding she wasn’t sure what she should be looking for and decided to go to her GP, …

THE vaccination roll-out against Covid-19 have been disrupted by a setback following the cancellation of clinics in a South-East Clare Mass Vaccination Centre. The UL Hospitals’ Group confirmed earlier this week that all clinics and appointments using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, including those at the Mid-West Vaccination Centre in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Meelick, have been deferred in line with the national guidance. This decision was taken after the national HSE temporarily deferred the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Ireland, after a request from the Chief Medical Officer, with effect from Sunday March 14th. The HSE stated on Thursday it was reviewing this deferral after a ruling from the European Medicines Agency stated the AstraZeneca vaccine is “safe and effective”.   HSE chief executive Paul Reid has pledged the agency will respond quickly to whatever decision is recommended by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee. The National Immunisation Advisory Committee stated on Friday evening the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine …

AN ENNIS GP has described a number of incidents where Covid-19 vaccines were administered people in non-priority groups as “insulting”. It emerged in recent days that so-called ‘remnant’ doses, left over after vaccination of priority groups at the Coombe and Rotonda hospitals in Dublin, were administered to relatives of staff. “The idea that hospitals would start giving spare doses to other people without evening thinking of their other frontline healthcare colleagues is insulting,” said Dr Máire Finn. “The fact that hospitals would get extra quantities of the vaccine and wouldn’t consider other staff or calling in GPs in their area makes me incredibly cross. There’s a sense that GPs have only been getting the scraps off the table.” Dr Finn welcomed updated guidance from the Health Service Executive (HSE) stating that hospitals should compile stand-by lists of other healthcare workers who would be vaccinated in the event of any spare doses becoming available. She also commended the roll-out of a …

A BUSY GP practice in Ennis was offered just 200 doses for a total of 1,400 patients, The Clare Champion has learned. Dr Máire Finn, said her practice, which is located on Francis Street, eventually secured an initial delivery of 540 doses and 600 more a fortnight later. “Supply is very poor,” Dr Finn said, “and it’s a nationwide problem. It’s a procurement issue because there is huge demand internationally.” She said that demand had seen a welcome increase this year, in the face of the pandemic. “There is big public buy in and people really want to get it,” Dr Finn noted. “We are prioritising the over 65s and carers for those who are vulnerable. Normally, we would be running massive vaccination clinics, but we can’t do that in the normal way because of social distancing. The thing is that the flu season continues until March. Normally, the advice is to get the vaccine as soon as possible, but …

FAMILY doctors are braced for a challenging winter, with pressure already coming on the service just weeks after children returned to school. Already a number of primary classes have had to be suspended temporarily and at least one national school closed due to Covid-19. There is also said to be considerable confusion over what kind of symptoms should raise red flags over attendance at school. “When it comes to the public health guidelines, it seems that the advice from every source is to contact your GP,” said Dr Máire Finn of the Centric Medical Centre. “Given the pressures the service is under, we can’t be the only port of call. We are getting a large number of people with questions over whether or not children should be going to school and sometimes, we just can’t answer them. I can foresee a situation where the whole winter is taken up with people keeping kids off school when they should be in, …

AN ENNIS doctor is urging people with any symptoms of respiratory, or other infections, to see their GP and get tested for Covid-19, if advised to do so. Dr Máire Finn of Ennis Medical said people are presenting with a range of different symptoms and that there is a growing list of signs of Covid-19, as the scientific and health communities learn more about the disease. “Our knowledge of the symptoms is developing all the time,” Dr Finn said. “At first, we were aware of a very defined set. We have since seen people coming in with urinary symptoms and gastro-intestinal symptoms which have been linked to Covid-19. We’ve even seen an appendicitis case, where the Covid test came back positive. It’s difficult to tell if that was coincidental or if the appendicitis was triggered by the virus. Right now, we’re looking at any infective symptoms as potential indicators. As GPs, we will triage people and assess who needs to …