Advertisement

Readers like you keep news free for everyone.

More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.

Support us today
Not now
Saturday 2 December 2023 Dublin: 4°C

# Health Service

This year
2023
Govt walking into trouble with warnings health system underfunding will have 'freeze effect'
Pearse Doherty said today the repercussions of the lack of funding in the budget will be seen “in the weeks and days to come”.
HSE managerial and admin staff begin industrial action
The staff not be working outside of their contracted hours or do any work relating to publishing the service’s statistics.
Irish lab not processing CervicalCheck samples five months on due to 'documents' delay
A report by
Eimer McAuley
The HSE said that staffing is not contributing to the ongoing delay in getting the lab back up and running, but added that the recruitment of staff continues to be a top priority.
In the meantime, Irish CervicalCheck samples continue to be processed by an American laboratory.
Once the Irish lab has its accreditation restored, it will return to processing 10% of CervicalCheck programme samples.
The long term aim of the HSE is for the Coombe Hospital lab to become the main processor of CervicalCheck samples.
Donnelly 'disappointed' about CervicalCheck samples being tested in US labs
Majority of countries to miss targets for decreasing cervical cancer
HSE admin staff taking industrial action over reliance on agency staff amid recruitment ban
Fórsa members said that the HSE is spending “lavish” amounts of money on private consultants rather than “upskilling” its existing staff.
Over 800 nurses and midwives assaulted in first three months of 2023
Over 62% of all assaults reported to the HSE in the first quarter were carried out against nurses and midwives.
Calls to reform education and training for GPs amid 'crisis' shortage
Research indicates a significant difference in the number of medical graduates from Ireland and the EU applying for a career as a GP.
Last year
2022
HSE warns winter viruses will put hospitals under more pressure 'than has ever been seen'
It forecases that over 900 patients will be in hospital with flu in the first week in January
NHS disruption from UK strikes likely to continue into coming days health leaders say
NHS Providers said there had been ‘varying levels of disruption’ across the UK as nurses and ambulance drivers strike.
St Vincent's Hospital experiencing 'significant delays' in processing blood tests for GP patients
Staffing issues over the last three weeks has resulted in a backlog from the time the bloods are received in the lab to when the results are sent back to GPs.
'Remuneration is significant': No appetite in Govt to increase €420k salary for next HSE boss
Questions have been raised about whether tensions between the HSE and Department of Health played a part in Paul Reid’s decision to step down.
Opinion: 'A real home feels like an unattainable dream' for many disabled people
Julie Helen of Inclusion Ireland is calling for government action on housing and supports in Budget 2023.
'Outrageous': Over 75s face average wait of 20 hours in some Emergency Departments
PAC Chair Brian Stanley said wait times in emergency departments is an intolerable situation in a well funded health system.
Child being treated for acute form of hepatitis has died, HSE says
A second child being treated for the same illness has received a liver transplant.
'It's heartbreaking’: My husband is unable to return home to our family after stroke
Michelle Murray outlines how her husband Charles is living in a nursing home nearly two years after being discharged from hospital due to unsuitable housing.
HSE boss admits ‘challenges’ ahead as €20 billion National Service Plan unveiled
The plan contains pledges to cut waiting lists and continue Ireland on the path to universal healthcare.
No HSE climate plan currently in place, but focus first on reducing emissions from buildings
A plan to decarbonise HSE buildings will be published in March with a wider climate action plan to follow.
'We're getting no support': Mother claims Midlands CAMHS has 'constantly' let her son down
A full audit into all CAMHS nationwide was announced last week following the publication of a “shocking” report into the South Kerry service.
She said her son has been prescribed the wrong medication "many times", his bloods have not been checked since last summer.
He has been admitted to A&E four times since November after saying he was going to take his own life.
It follows revelations contained in a report last week that 46 children suffered "significant harm" while attending the HSE-run South Kerry CAMHS.
All time
Number of patients on hospital trolleys hits highest level since pandemic began
Today’s trolley figures have returned to similar pre-pandemic figures hit in 2019.
The government's health screening 'czar' wants people's input on how services could be extended
We see screening as something that is in the public ownership, Professor Niall O’Higgins said on why the public were being asked.
Government still committed to Slaintecare, says Cabinet minister
The healthcare initiative has suffered several resignations in recent weeks.
What's going on with the government's Sláintecare plan for the health service?
The office in charge of the reforms saw two key departures this week.
'Challenging winter ahead' for health service, says IMO president
Rising cases of Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses pose difficulties for an “exhausted” health system.
INMO seeks emergency meeting with HSE to tackle 'hazardous' hospital overcrowding
The union said that some hospitals are approaching pre-pandemic levels of overcrowding.
Hospitalisations fall below 900 as Ireland 'on the right side of the curve now' ahead of further vaccine rollout
People aged 85 and over will begin receiving a Covid-19 vaccine from Monday.
HSE says 77,303 people - 1.58% of the population - have received first dose of vaccine so far in Ireland
The HSE gave an update on the vaccination programme this afternoon.
'A fire that's burned continually since March is now raging out of control': Unions question HSE recruitment pledges
Unions and healthcare workers on the ground have said the situation is at breaking point.
INMO calls for 'critical emergency' protocols to be implemented across health service
The INMO is also calling on the HSE to improve daily communications with staff.
'We must grasp the nettle': The health service is getting an unprecedented €4bn boost
The funding allows for hundreds of new beds.
65 new contact tracers starting this week, but Taoiseach wants recruitment fast-tracked
Public service workers that were transferred to help with contact tracing will only return to their roles when the recruitment drive is complete.
HSE was 'gifted' €544,000 in free advertising by Google and Facebook during Covid-19 pandemic
New figures show the health service spent more than €1 million on advertising in the first two months of the crisis.
'People say I'm in a privileged position. I don't consider cancer a privilege'
The government created a single-tier health service at the beginning of the crisis, but criticism of the contracts is ramping up.
'We need to treat each other like pariahs': Limerick intensive care doctor issues stark warning
Dr Catherine Motherway of University Hospital Limerick said the Irish health system may struggle if Covid-19 is not contained.
Poll: Should there be minimum sentences for anyone convicted of assaulting hospital staff?
There were over 1,000 incidents reported last year where a member of staff had been assaulted.
Staff in Irish hospitals assaulted over 1,000 times last year - but union warns it's 'tip of iceberg'
The majority of healthcare staff attacked were nurses.
'Affordable and transparent': HSE's new system for purchasing medicines to cost €1.3 billion
The five-year tender for a dynamic purchasing system will ensure good quality medicines are available on a timely basis, the HSE said.
HSE trolley crisis: Recruitment freeze is 'starving frontline services of much-needed staff'
The INMO has said that “it’s not hard to join the dots” between delays in staffing and the current trolley crisis.
It's the worst ever day for trolley overcrowding in Irish hospitals since records began, INMO says
There were 92 patients waiting for a bed at University Hospital Limerick, alone.
The HSE has €1.4 billion more to spend on healthcare in 2020
In total, it has €17.4 billion – a 6.3% increase in funding compared to 2019.
Simon Harris 'not worried' amid speculation he could be next to face no confidence vote
Opposition members are understood to be considering tabling a motion of no confidence against the health minister in the new year.
'We are at breaking point': Hospital doctors to be balloted for industrial action
The Irish Medical Organisation warned of the potential for an “escalating campaign of industrial action”.