Irish Apartheid. Healthcare Inequality in Ireland now published

My first book has been published. You can get it in all good Irish book shops and on line from New Island www.newisland.ie and  from Amazon.
Happy reading

Sara

Let’s not forget one great woman on International Women’s Day

It is two years and just two months since Susie Long wrote an email to the Joe Duffy show. Its worth rereading on this International Women’s Day as the points she so eloquently and bravely said are as pertinent today as they were when she wrote them. Susie Long died on 12 October 2007. Her legacy lives on….

I’m going to die because of hospital waiting lists

Dear Joe,

Today I had my 12th session of chemo. I got to talking to the partner of a man who was also getting chemo. She told me that when her partner’s GP requested a colonoscopy for him he was put on the waiting list. She then phoned the hospital and told them he had private health insurance and he was seen three days later.

Drinks industry takes me on…

The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) took umbrage with the rado slot I did a few weeks when I was exasperated that the DRINKS industry were on the new government’s own DRUGS strategy steering group. So yesterday I did my health slot with Rosemary Garth of Alcohol Beverage Federation in IReland (ABFI). So you can read my previous thoughts on them here and new ones below or listen back here…

Is the emperor naked (are there really 222 primary care teams)?

Over eight years on from the launch of the primary care strategy, there are 222 teams in place. They are where 90-95% of health care needs can be met and Brendan Drumm’s pet project. So what do these teams actually do? Do they really exist? And how widespread are they?

The case for political reform

THe case is obvious, the issue is what type of reform is required. See here for discussion on Vincent Browne’s show on 2 February 2010 that I participated in…

HSE Service Plan 2010 – an impossible ask??

Ten days ago, amidst the media frenzy of George Lee’s resignation, the HSE Service Plan was published. The HSE Service Plan is the HSE’s most important publication of the year as it is the contract between the HSE and the government which details the type and volume of service the HSE will provide in the year ahead within the budget it is allocated by government. Significantly it is the fifth HSE Service Plan and the last one with Brendan Drumm at helm. In short, it details a one billion budget cut, fewer staff and fewer hospital beds. Delivering all its promises in such a constrained environment will be difficult, if not impossible.

Travellers Health Matters

You can now access the report here and soon it will be on Galway Travellers Movement site

Over 1,000 Traveller families still living in inhumane conditions

Research just published carried out on a Travellers site in County Galway demonstrates the inextricable link between their deplorable living conditions and poor health status. This morning Minister Eamon O Cuiv launched the report on the health of residents living in Carrowbrowne Travellers Halting Site, which is located in the Ministers own constituency, north east of Galway on the Headford Road. It reveals the appalling conditions experienced by Travellers – rat infestation, no water, no electricity, portoloos which were cleaned out just twice a week. And the benefits for involving Travellers at an early stage in the  planning and development of any sites.

Cosy consensus with drinks industry mitigates against public health

Despite over 15 years of policies and strategies on how to reduce our alcohol intake as a nation, our problematic alcohol use continues. Last Friday (30 January 2010) was the closing date for public submissions to another government initiative to develop alcohol policies as part of a new overall National Substance Misuse Strategy. There have been a series of national policies on both alcohol and illicit/illegal drugs but up to now they have been separate. So what is significant about this is for the first time alcohol is being named as a drug and included in a new drugs strategy – contrary to the best intention of the drinks’ industry.  But what is extraordinary is that the drinks industry is on the government’s own Steering Group to develop proposals for a National Substance Misuse Strategy. How cosy is that?

Obama’s pledge of universal health coverage is no more

In Obama’s State of the Union address, the president acknowledged mistakes made in his first 12 months in office and pledged to persist with health insurance reform. So where has Obama got to with his health reforms and how has his promise of universal health insurance coverage changed and diminished?

After nearly a century of trying — Democratic administrations, Republican administrations — we are closer than ever to bringing more security to the lives of so many Americans. The approach we’ve taken would protect every American from the worst practices of the insurance industry. It would give small businesses and uninsured Americans a chance to choose an affordable health care plan in a competitive market.

This quote from Obama’s speech gives it all away….

Chronic shortage of GPs in ireland soon to become critical

On News at One on 14 January, HSE chief Brendan Drumm came out fighting on the news of imminent strike action in the health sector. This combined with a cut of over €1 billion for the HSE and unions saying they won’t cooperate with ‘reform’ means there are particularly challenging times ahead for the HSE. Crucial but separate to the HSE are local GPs. Yet we already have a shortage of GPs and are facing a real crisis in GP care.