Tag Archives: healthcare workers

In the first in a series of ‘Day in the Life’ interviews with healthcare workers redeployed during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dan Danaher speaks with Kilkee physiotherapist Deirdre Muldoon A KILKEE senior physiotherapist has lauded the teamwork and flexibility shown by all healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Deirdre Muldoon praised staff who assumed a bigger workload providing health services when their colleagues were redeployed to other duties. When former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar publicly announced major restrictions for the first national lockdown, Deirdre wasn’t surprised, as there were rumblings in the health services that these strict measures were in the pipeline. At the outset of the pandemic, Deirdre admits what was happening in Italy was quite scary. “There was some relief that I wasn’t working in the acute sector any more and I was worried for family, friends, aunts and uncles as there was a big unknown. Thankfully, the first wave didn’t turn out to be as bad as what we …

ONLY five healthcare workers were hired in the Mid-West following a national recruitment appeal during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures have revealed. According to statistics obtained by Sinn Féin Health spokesperson Louise O’Reilly, only five healthcare staff were taken on through ‘Be On Call for Ireland’ in the region. They also show that just 185 health and social care workers have been hired through this scheme across the State out of 73,000 applicants. Deputy O’Reilly described the paltry recruitment of healthcare workers as “baffling”. “It beggars belief that with tens of thousands of health staff applying to work through ‘Be On Call for Ireland’ and in the face of an international healthcare crisis, that recruitment through the initiative has been so low,” she said. Dr Michael Harty said the recruitment of highly skilled qualified nurses, doctors and allied health professionals to permanent positions has been very patchy. The Kilmihil-based GP said several medics who assumed they would …

Sinn Féin’s Clare TD, Violet-Anne Wynne, has said that serious issues surrounding Covid-19 testing need to be addressed as some people, including healthcare workers, are waiting up to two weeks for test results. “It is clear that there are serious issues surrounding Covid-19 testing that need to be addressed. I am being contacted on a daily basis by people in Clare, including healthcare workers, who are alarmed to be waiting around two weeks for Covid-19 test results carried out in Ennis,” she said. “We are hearing alot about testing target aims, but the HSE is not disclosing a number of key statistics – what is the number of people waiting to be tested in Clare and elsewhere and what is the number of people waiting to have test results processed?, ” the Clare Dáil Deputy emphasised. “These statistics need to be disclosed in the public interest. The current testing situation in Clare is having serious knock-on effects for contact tracing, with reports …