Long waits and poor performance at Drogheda emergency department, watchdog finds
Demand exceeds inpatient and emergency department capacity at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Hiqa finds
Hospitals
Ageing population takes its toll on Ireland’s health system
With the proportion of elderly people increasing as the population rises, how will the country cope with the health implications of these changing demographics?
Palliative care: ‘I’ve had a good life.. a lot to be grateful for. But I’d still rather live’
At the Harold’s Cross facility, palliative care teams a help patients through the final stages of their lives by treating their pain and surrounding them with kindness
The ‘inpatients’ at home on a virtual ward: “The nurse was on to me in jig time: ‘Have you died or what?’”
Since its launch earlier this summer, the new service offering hospital care in the comfort of patients’ homes has been used by over 100 people
We know that inducing labour early is safe for babies. But is it better for the mum?
Recent study on low-risk first-time mothers induced at 39 weeks who returned home to wait for labour to start criticised by researchers seeking improvements to services
More than a third of patients malnourished when being admitted to hospitals in Ireland
Call for malnutrition screening to be expanded to other clinical settings such as in outpatients, daycare and primary care settings, particularly for cancer patients and older people
Health budgets will have to keep pace with demand as population grows and ages, doctors warn
IMO welcomes the substantial increase in hospital bed numbers announced by Government but argues more will be needed
Almost 3,000 new inpatient hospital beds to be delivered by 2031, says Donnelly
Shortage of beds leading to overcrowding problems experienced in hospitals such as Limerick, unions says
Almost 240 patients died in UHL emergency department over past five years
Figures emerge amid increased scrutiny of hospital’s safety record following Aoife Johnston case
HSE management and admin appointments outpacing clinical staff hires, says DPER
Numbers in management and administrative grades have grown by a third in recent years, DPER warned Department of Health
More than 699,000 people on some form of hospital waiting list at end of April
Almost 470,000 have had to wait longer than Sláintecare targets of 10 or 12 weeks
Community care programme leading to ‘very significant’ improvements in waiting lists
HSE sees 16% reduction in hospital admissions for those with chronic diseases in the five years to 2023
HSE to start trialling new health app by next month
App will not cover voluntary hospitals due to challenges around data sharing, board members told
Patient access to diagnostic scans restricted as demand ‘far exceeds’ funding
Almost 80% of allocation for hospital scans was used up in first two months of year
Limerick landmark Barrington’s hospital for sale at €12.5m
Built originally on behalf of the Barrington family, the George’s Quay property has been in medical use for close to 200 years
Orla Tinsley: Competing to stay alive should not be our reality, but it is
How can we move towards an idea of community rather than competition for care?
Could patients be seen by hospital consultants in their own homes?
A hospital consultant explains how health professionals can deliver hospital-level care in people’s homes with the help of digital diagnostic and monitoring devices
Poll analysis: Housing and immigration are making the headlines, but other topics are becoming more prominent
After peaking at 24% in January, mentions of immigration have declined month-on-month, falling to 12% in the latest poll
Neonatal project allowed ‘to slip into abeyance . . . not by an active decision but through neglect and apathy’
Dr Ann Hickey this month told management of Children’s Health Ireland she could no longer continue as neonatology lead due to inaction on outdated systems of care
Billions in extra health funding not leading to higher activity in hospitals, report finds
New report published along with plan to achieve savings of about €550m and boost productivity in health sector
Patients and staff enduring ‘pretty awful conditions’ in some EDs, says HSE chief
Demand for services in EDs rose 12% in early part of year
Consultants criticise lack of commitment to open more hospital beds in HSE plan
National service plan for 2024 states cost of running services will exceed available funding
Orla Tinsley: 26 ways you can organise your hospital space to make it safe and soothing
Don’t let healthcare surroundings determine how you feel. Make the space your own with a few home comforts and items of self-care
Parents of babies who died in hospital to petition Taoiseach for commission of investigation
Safer Births Ireland claims more than 40 baby deaths over last 10 years require urgent review
Murder accused who killed neighbour with machete ‘not feigning’ when he said he was Moses, court hears
Accused allegedly sought psychiatric treatment day before killing but was turned away due to Covid restrictions
Slow-building crisis in North’s health system keeps excess deaths ‘off the radar’, says senior doctor
Emergency medicine consultant Russell McLaughlin draws a comparison with lives lost at the height of the Troubles to illustrate the crisis facing Northern Ireland’s health service
Reinstated Kerry consultant returns to work after three weeks
Radiologist Dr Martin Schranz said he was ‘happy out’ after agreement reached to allow him to return to University Hospital Kerry
‘Mundane, repetitive tasks’ should be performed by nurses, not junior doctors, says Medical Council
Medical Council says 2016 deal to transfer common tasks to nurses has not been implemented
Minister warns rise in flu and Covid cases will increase pressure on hospitals
Stephen Donnelly says there were 80 per cent fewer patients waiting on trolleys over Christmas weekend, compared to same period in 2022
Letterkenny hospital tells staff not to ask patients to lie on floor after man suffers injuries
Directive comes in wake of incident in which man injured after falling twice in the emergency department
Orla Tinsley: The health system is not meeting its patients’ needs
I bought a commode that the HSE should have provided. I paid for the hand railing the HSE should have provided
Orla Tinsley: ‘The chart, to my horror, says I am on 10mg. But I’m on 7.5mg. And the voice had given me 20mg’
There must be accountability, and removal and retraining of staff who create danger for patients in their care
Letterkenny patients’ lives under ‘immediate threat’, doctors warn
Donegal hospital facing ‘death by a thousand cuts’, according to letter from almost 30 consultants
Industrial action to start at Limerick hospital
Nurses at St John’s Hospital due to start work to rule at 8am on Thursday
Consultants on public-only contracts allowed to do private work on own time, Varadkar says
Taoiseach tells Private Hospitals Association Ireland conference that State is bucking international trend with waiting lists going down
European cross-border study highlights how microbes ignore boundaries
‘Stewardship of antibiotic use is essential … along with innovative cleaning solutions and infection prevention products’
Outcomes in smaller ICUs just as good as in larger units, report finds
Three-quarters of patients admitted to intensive care in 2021 survived
No cuts to health services next year despite ‘guaranteed deficit’, HSE chief says
Recruitment of additional staff being capped, not cut, HSE chief executive tells Oireachtas health committee
Widow of man who died in UHL says she would rather die at home than attend ‘persistently dangerous’ Limerick hospital
Marie McMahon’s husband died in 2018 after he spent 36 hours on a trolley with stroke-like symptoms
Patients ‘at risk of death’ due to conditions in Letterkenny hospital, doctors warn
Hospital is in crisis over deteriorating conditions and lack of resources, say consultants and GPs in Donegal
Health service faces winter of huge strain as Donnelly to seek savings of more than €600m
Minister’s demand for more productivity from hospitals follows budget talks that yielded additional €800m despite request for €2bn
Health overspend the elephant in the room in Dáil budget speeches
There is clear annoyance in Government that the health budget deficit is leaving less money for vote-catching measures
Additional €800m health service funding in budget for ageing and growing population
Budget 2024: Money available for new measures drops from €250m last year to €100m this year
North’s health service under ‘intolerable pressure’ as waiting list grows by 185%
Study details an ‘alarming growth’ in elective care waiting times in Northern Ireland
More than 700 consultants sign up to public-only contract
IHCA president says rate of take-up 'desperately slow' compared to previous contract
World Sepsis Day: Disease kills more people each year than heart attacks, strokes or almost any cancer
HSE aims to raise awareness of symptoms and promote early recognition of life-threatening condition
Sepsis: ‘Not once were we educated on this silent global killer which stole our son’s life’
Family of boy (15) who died from condition launched an awareness campaign so others ‘don’t have to go through what we are going through daily’
‘Somebody said to me, you’re just the face of mums and dads doing abortion’
‘I’m a conscientious provider’: Melbourne’s leading abortion surgeon on the continuous fight for reproductive rights
Roy Keane donates car to fundraising raffle for Co Cork hospice
Car, valued at over €30,000, will be raffled with proceeds going to Marymount Hospice
HSE ‘encouraged’ by early reaction to overseas recruitment campaign for hospital consultants
Online interest in roles in Ireland spiked but too early to say what final number of hires will be says organisation that recruited just 110 new consultants since March
Over 600 extra college places in medicine, nursing and therapy aim to boost health staff numbers
First initiative of its kind comes as Government seeks to boost number of nurses as well as therapists for disability services
Housing ‘huge issue’ for African nurses in Ireland, says nurses’ group president
‘Accommodation queries is the thing that keeps our WhatsApp group going,’ says Nigerian Nurses Association leader
HSE paid more than €15 million to recruitment firms last year but thousands of posts still unfilled
Projections show an additional 2,575 hospital doctors are needed by 2035, as well as at least 5,726 more nurses
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