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Tag Archives: HSE

HSE accused of failing to plan for GP crisis

Clare Deputy Dr Michael Harty has pledged to raise the Shannondoc cutbacks in the county at this week’s session of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health. Dr Harty has acknowledged the changes to the Shannondoc out-of-hours services in Kilrush, Ennistymon and Killaloe are a reduction to the medical cover for patients. He claimed these changes are another manifestation of the mismanagement of the health service and highlighted the failure of the HSE to anticipate and plan for the medical manpower crisis which faces general practice and the wider health service. He said all out-of-hours services are experiencing difficulty in finding locums to supplement local GP rosters. “The working commitment and conditions of service required to work in single handed rural practice are too onerous. Consequently, GP positions are not being filled when they become vacant. The contract underpinning these working conditions is in need of urgent review and renegotiation. “Newly qualified GPs and established GPs are emigrating to work in …

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shannondoc

Shannondoc cuts are ‘deeply flawed’

The planned reduction in GP out-of-hours services in Clare has been condemned as “deeply flawed” by Deputy Timmy Dooley. Shannondoc’s Kilrush and Ennistymon service will close from Monday to Friday, relocating to Miltown Malbay, while the out-of-hours clinic will only open at weekends in Kilrush and Ennistymon. The Killaloe clinic will open during weekends only, on an as-needs basis, with a mobile doctor serving the centre. At weekends, the operating hours will change from 9am to 9pm to 2pm to 6pm, with patients to be seen in Limerick, Ennis and Nenagh centres outside of those hours. The changes to the Killaloe service will start next Monday while the timeframe for changes in West Clare is expected in the near future. The problems caused by the reduction in the number of centres from five to three were outlined by Deputy Dooley, during a special debate in Dáil Éireann. The Fianna Fáil Deputy said it is clear that the evidence upon which …

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Is a child’s life ‘worth more than €600?’

A LOCAL woman has questioned if the HSE believes the health and life of her daughter is “worth more than €600”, following a traumatic experience. Nicole Norton (19), who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, requires intrathecal baclofen therapy (IBT) to prevent her from going into possible spasm, internal organ and heart failure. In an interview with The Clare Champion, her mother, Ann Norton, said she got a phonecall from a senior clinician on Wednesday of last week informing her that the HSE would no longer pay for the cost of refilling this pump because it is too expensive. It costs about €600 to provide medication for the pump every five or six weeks. Ms Norton said she was told the medication for the pump is “not being released from the pharmacy due to the cost”. “I felt sick in my stomach that the HSE would put Nicole’s life at risk for the sake of €600.” Councillor Norton said if Nicole goes into …

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Public dental service under threat

STAFF shortages, clinic closures and a lack of policy and direction by the HSE are putting an intolerable burden on the public dental service, it has been claimed. Speaking at the HSE dentists annual seminar in Athlone, Fintan Hourihan, chiefexecutive of the Irish Dental Association, pointed out that while the under 16 population had increased by 20% over the past decade to 1.1million, the number of dentists in the public dental service charged with looking after their oral health had dropped by 20% due to a recruitment embargo. Mr Hourihan said the fact that dentists in some areas were pulling almost as many children’s teeth as they were filling was a stark example of how bad the situation had become. He called on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris to intervene in the situation immediately. “Figures for six community care areas – for which exact numbers are available – show that almost 16,000 primary school children missed their school screening …

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Call for airport ambulance cover review

ALARM bells are ringing in Clare following the revelation that an off-duty senior ambulance officer had to travel from Tralee to Shannon Airport to attend a serious incident, which resulted in the hospitalisation of 12 people, last month. The National Ambulance Service (NAS) has been requested to review its ambulance cover for major emergencies after a senior officer had to complete a round trip of more than 250km to deal with medical casualties arising out of an emergency landing at Shannon on August 31. United Airlines flight UA880, with 207 passengers and a crew of 13 on board, had to make an emergency landing at the airport due to “severe and unexpected turbulence”. The Boeing 767-300 jet was flying from Houston in the US to London Heathrow. When the aircraft landed, initial assessment was carried out by the National Ambulance Service and airport first responders. It was subsequently confirmed by the HSE that 12 passengers, nine adults and three children, …

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Maternity Hospital’s ‘baby box’ initiative

MID-West parents are to be supplied with “free baby boxes”, in addition to important literature, when they leave the University Maternity Hospital Limerick, it has been announced. The proposal, which is being introduced at no cost to the HSE, is now at a stage where all the necessary groundwork has been carried out and has been  launched  this Friday. Over the last two months, the University Maternity Hospital Limerick, led and co-ordinated by Dr Mendinaro (Naro) Incha, have been working on a project to distribute free baby boxes to the parents of all newborn babies. It is expected to be rolled out in the next few weeks. Among those involved in the project is Dr Emma Kearney of Ennis Family Medical Centre. She has contributed to the initiative by helping to prepare an online information resource, which will be given to all new parents, along with their baby box, before they leave the hospital. This type of project, which was introduced …

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Blue Flag hoisted at Kilkee

Clare County Council, on the advice of the HSE, has today (Friday) lifted restrictions relating to public bathing at Kilkee’s Blue Flag beach. The council confirmed the results of water sampling tests carried out on Thursday show the water is clean. The prohibition on bathing at Kilkee was introduced on Wednesday afternoon after the results of routine tests on water samples at the beach highlighted bacterial contamination. “On the advice of the HSE and following analysis of water samples, the council is happy to be able to announce the lifting of all restrictions relating to bathing at Kilkee,” commented Paul Moroney, senior engineer, environment section. “Public notices indicating bathing water restrictions are being removed while the Blue Flag will be flying at Kilkee beach this weekend.Clare County Council would like to thank the public for their understanding and cooperation over the past two days,” Mr Moroney added.

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No bathing warning for Kilkee continues

Clare County Council, following consultation with the HSE, says restrictions on public bathing at Kilkee beach will remain in place today (Thursday). The advisory was issued on Wednesday afternoon after elevated levels of microbiological contamination were recorded in a routine bathing water sample in Kilkee. As a result, bathers are being advised not to swim in the sea at the West Clare resort. Testing of the bathing waters has taken place again today, Thursday, Preliminary test results indicate that the event may be over. Final confirmation of the end of the restriction will be considered following additional water testing on Friday morning.

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