Tag Archives: health

JUST two months ago, Kilmurry McMahon based couple Joe and Gemma O’Gorman lost their little baby boy, nine-week-old Mícheál. At Gemma’s 32-week scan they were told of an anomaly, and within hours of his birth he was having seizures while at five days old his parents were told he had a suspected genetic condition.  After a number of weeks of treatment in hospital his parents did finally get to bring him home, and he died in their arms on March 31. In honour of their son’s memory Joe and Gemma are walking the length of Route 66, which spans the USA, and has a total distance of 3,669.8km. They plan to complete the challenge by January 23 of next year, when Míchaél would have celebrated his first birthday. They have a GoFundMe page and at the time of writing donations were approaching €10,000, way ahead of an initial target of €1,000. When baby Mícheál passed, the lockdown was still in its …

IT is believed that an alcoholic typically has a significantly negative impact on around ten people around them. Given the amount of people with drink problems around, it’s clear that a huge minority in society have felt the effects of others drinking and Al-Anon is in existence to help people in this position. Seanie, a Clare man in his early 30s, says that he started going to deal with problems in his own family. “People go to Al-Anon looking for a way to stop the craziness of alcoholism in their own lives, looking for a list of things to do to stop the person drinking. In my own case the person was going to AA, but behaving like a dry drunk which means behaving like an alcoholic with bad behaviour. Having blowouts, fighting, being unreasonable, carrying on as if they were drunk, but they are carrying on like that while being sober.” He knows all about the plight of being …

THE Lions Club of Ennis are roaring in behind efforts to provide hundreds of thousands of face shields for frontline health workers throughout Ireland. Lions Clubs have pledged to raise up to €100,000 nationally to fund 200,000 ‘Hero Shield’ face visors which will be distributed free of charge to front line health workers throughout Ireland. Michael Neylon, president of Lions Club of Ennis has confirmed that the club will be getting involved with campaign, along with working to help local families in need as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Michael explains that all clubs in the district were contacted about the project and after remote consultation with members the Lions Club of Ennis will be making a donation. “At local level we have a few members engaging with vulnerable families who are in particular need during this Covid-19 crisis. We have also offered our services to the Clare County council Community Response group.” The project, led by James O’Sullivan …

THERE is shock around Clare this afternoon as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a range of new measures to try and halt the spread of Covid 19. In a statement in Washington today the Taoiseach said that schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close, while he advised that indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 500 be cancelled. Explaining how serious the situation is, the Taoiseach said, “Yesterday, the World Health Organisation formally described it as pandemic and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) updated it guidelines advising us all to act early to be effective. “Our own National Public Health Emergency Team met last night and has issued new advice to Government. We are acting on that advice today.” “There will be many more cases. “More people will get sick and unfortunately, we must face the tragic reality that some people will die. “The virus is all over the …

“THE comment where he said that it is winter and there is an increase in viruses, that children that are having chemotherapy shouldn’t come to hospital. Where does he propose we go?” Shannon’s Agnes O’Shaughnessy has a lot to be angry about this week. Bad enough that her 10-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, bad enough that he had to get some of his treatment abroad, bad enough that he was hit by an 11-day delay for his last round of chemotherapy at the National Children’s Hospital, without the Taoiseach making such comments. Make no mistake, insult has been added to injury. She says the other parents of children suffering with cancer are also unhappy. “We have a closed Facebook group and all the other parents are confused about that comment. Where does he propose we go? We can’t not have chemotherapy from November to April. The new children’s hospital won’t be available for three years. Alex …

DESPITE some positive feedback from residents about the care they receive, HIQA inspectors found that significant problems exist at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis. One of the criticisms made in a report published on Wednesday was that there is a “failure to ensure that residents’ privacy and dignity was upheld at all times during the provision of care”. The inspection report found that staff cannot deliver care in the way required because of the state of the facilities. “The curtain layout in some bedrooms was such that it was not possible for staff to deliver care in a dignified way. For example, screen curtains do not always meet and so the resident receiving the care is at high risk of being inappropriately exposed. Inspectors observed a resident receiving personal care in an undignified way. “Another example of an affront to dignity was observed for a number of residents as a result of staff not managing and responding to a resident’s …

A SITE has been secured for the construction of a new €25 million St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis. The construction of the 100-bed, community nursing unit on five acres of Diocesan lands located near the Turnpike in Ennis will ensure that elderly care services remain at the heart of the county town, according to Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen. Deputy Breen said, “I am delighted that a site has been secured at this central location in Ennis for the construction of the new €25 million St Joseph’s Hospital. The sale of the 5.09 acres of land remains subject to planning permission for the development of the 100 bed Community Nursing Unit, but I believe the site provides the best option following the appraisal of a number of sites in the Ennis environs by the HSE. “The new state-of-the-art St Joseph’s Hospital building has been prioritised in the HSE Capital …

DESPITE an independent auditor’s report claiming Shannondoc had not operated “a robust enough system of internal controls”, the HSE has defended the service and said it is in compliance with the terms under which it receives millions of euro each year. Shannondoc is the out-of hours medical service to residents of the Mid-West. It significantly reduced services in Kilrush, Ennistymon and Killaloe in 2016. On Sunday, a protest march in Ennis at 3pm will highlight cuts to Shannondoc in Clare, along with seeking the restoration of a 24-hour Emergency Department in Ennis. Shannondoc recently filed its accounts for 2017 and, in these, Neil W Mulcahy of Limerick- based MGM Accountants wrote, “In our opinion, the company did not operate a robust enough system of internal controls during the period, leading to inadequate control over the purchasing and outsourcing functions”. He added, “This lack of control meant that we were unable to conduct a proper audit of regularity within the purchasing …