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Friday 2 June 2023 Dublin: 10°C

# Department of Health

Last week
21st May 2023 - 27th May 2023
# Alcohol
Donnelly defends signing into law world’s first legislation on health labelling of alcohol
Labels will state the calorie content and grams of alcohol in the product.
Last month
May 2023
# GP shortage
GPs say new medical card holders will struggle to get seen in midst of 'workforce crisis'
The Medical Director of the ICGP said GPs are facing a serious workforce shortage.
April
April 2023
# Women's Health
Total withdrawal of partner access in maternity hospitals 'not appropriate', says HSE
Campaigners have criticised how partners continue to be restricted in attending appointments in some hospitals.
# Secretary General
Tanaiste supports Robert Watt’s position at Department of Health despite Holohan controversy
Watt appeared before the Oireachtas finance committee yesterday, largely rejecting an external review into the proposed secondment of former CMO Tony Holohan.
# watt now
Holohan report: Watt rejects most findings as Donnelly says all involved acted in 'good faith'
The finance committee heard that Stephen Donnelly’s laptop had been hacked during the period the secondment was agreed.
THE MORNING LEAD
Indian nurses recruited by HSE wait months in Ireland without their children before starting work
A report by
Eimer McAuley
Twenty-nine migrant nurses who were recruited to one Dublin hospital were promised six weeks of paid accommodation, and then told they would have to leave after a week on arrival.
Twenty-nine migrant nurses who were recruited to one Dublin hospital were promised six weeks of paid accommodation, and then told they would have to leave after a week on arrival.
One mother-of-two from India hasn't been able to find a house to rent so her family can join her, Eimer McAuley reports.
# Healthcare
In-patient fees for public hospitals scrapped from today
Patients could previously be charged up to €80 per day, with a cap of €800 per year.
# pay talks
Pay talks: Additional money for HSE funded agencies 'must go on worker's pay, not admin costs'
Trade unions are set to push the State to reclassify agency healthcare workers as public servants.
# Health
Review of abortion services to go to Cabinet in coming weeks
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the review was ‘about improving access to services’.
This year
2023
# savita
Hundreds of heartfelt notes left at mural of Savita Halappanavar are published online
The personal messages left in tribute to Savita will now be preserved and accessible in the future.
# contact tracing
Covid Tracker app expected to be 'decommissioned' by this summer
The app cost €811,227 to launch with over €100,000 spent on support and development in the six months after it launched.
# Covid-19
HSE bought 10 times more ventilators than necessary, hundreds of which were unusable
The HSE spent €129 million on ventilators, buying nearly twice the number approved by the Department of Health.
# women's healthcare
New endometriosis treatment plan to include faster treatment times and two specialist centres
The framework will be implemented on a phased basis, commencing this year.
# fair deal scheme
Nursing home staff question ethics of relying on large nutrition firms to assess residents
Nursing home staff said that elderly residents are being transferred to hospital to get catheters changed because it is so hard to access primary care.
# Robert Watt
Nursing home charges: Legal strategy was 'never challenged' by politicians, says top civil servant
Many medical card holders who were in long-term care between 1976 to 2005 had to pay when it should have been free.
# Nursing Homes
Families of nursing home residents being charged for 'incontinence wear, bandages and therapy'
“It’s a scandal, one family paid €2,500 to a private nursing home in just over a year,” a TD said today.
# Explainer
Nursing home charges: What is the controversy about and how has the Government responded?
A 2011 memo stated that the liability from these incorrect charges could amount to €12 billion.
# Nursing Homes
Calls for Government to publish records on 'secret strategy' for illegal nursing home charges
It follows a report in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday.
# OPeration Transformation
Department of Health no longer a sponsor of RTÉ's Operation Transformation
In both 2021 and 2022, the Department spent €230,000 to sponsor the series which has come under criticism for its focus on weight loss.
# Abortion
Still no timeline for safe access zone bill, deemed a 'priority' by Government in 2021
The legislation was meant to be published last March.
# System Overload
Strength of gay community response to monkeypox was ‘key’ in controlling outbreak
After Covid, monkeypox was the first big test for Ireland’s public health system. How did we fare – and what can we learn?
# parking pressure
Government commitment to reduce hospital parking charges ‘not prioritised’
Despite repeated promises, little progress has been made to prevent the cost of hospital parking falling on the most vulnerable.
A HSE implementation plan to reduce parking charges was written in 2019 but 'has been superseded by the passage of time'
It would cost at least €4.75 million to cap daily charges at €10
Advocate: 'It would be an easy win for the government'
Last year
2022
# Organ Donation
250 organ transplants took place in Ireland this year
The HSE has thanked the donors and their families who made the life-saving transplants possible.
# IMO
Junior doctors vote overwhelmingly in favour of agreement to tackle unsafe working hours
The agreement also grants guaranteed access to leave for essential exams.
# Trolleys
Mater restricts visits due to high levels of respiratory infections as 'record' overcrowding hits hospitals
It’s the joint-highest number of patients without a bed that the organisation has ever recorded.
# free contraception
Over 700 GPs still waiting for free contraception contracts to be finalised
The scheme was opened to women aged 17 to 25 last month.
Voices
Opinion: Every woman needs access to reproductive healthcare over the course of her life
On the launch of its new ‘Every Woman’ report into healthcare, National Women’s Council Director Orla O’Connor looks at the challenges that still remain.
# new cmo
Professor Breda Smyth appointed new chief medical officer at the Department of Health
Professor Smyth has been the interim chief medical officer since July, after Dr Tony Holohan stood down from the role.
# sexual health
HSE launches free home testing for STIs
The test kits are available to people aged 17 or over and are delivered by post.
# the needle has landed
HSE launches winter vaccination programme with flu and Covid-19 jabs
The HSE is inviting eligible groups to get their flu jab and their Covid-19 booster.
# Healthcare
Budget 2023 must address 'chronic' overcrowding in Irish hospitals, says INMO
It called for a ‘laser focus’ on recruitment of nurses and midwives.
# pandemic
Current Covid wave has peaked but hospital capacity remains under pressure, says CMO
46 Covid-19 related deaths were reported in the first 19 days of this month.
# free contraception
Free contraception for women aged 17 to 25 to be rolled out by September
President Michael D Higgins signed the measures into law today.
# Cannabis Risk Alliance
Anti-cannabis group met privately with drugs minister to discuss possible RSA-style ad campaign
The Cannabis Risk Alliance met Frank Feighan in January last year.
The Cannabis Risk Alliance told Frank Feighan last year that there should be "full transparency" around lobbyists and advocates, Stephen McDermott writes.
However, a loophole in lobbying laws mean the group's communications with the Government do not themselves have to be recorded.
Activists have questioned why the group had access to Feighan when those advocating for a different approach have found access more difficult.
# Coronavirus
Hospitals 'under considerable pressure' due to Covid, Holohan says in final pandemic report
Dr Tony Holohan stepped down as Chief Medical Officer this week.
# sma
'Timing is key': Parents call for inclusion of rare genetic disease in newborn heel prick test
SMA is a degenerative disease that causes damage to nerves that develop muscle function and allow children to eat, move and breathe.
# job vacancy
'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.
# Robert Watt
Working conditions for non-consultant hospital doctors must change, senior civil servant says
The Secretary General of the Department of Health said many doctors already work longer hours than what is considered legal and safe.
# medical mission
Ireland has evacuated a total of 13 patients, including five injured soldiers, from Ukraine
So far 13 people, including five soldiers, have been brought to Ireland for medical treatment from Ukraine.
# Dust down the cv
Applications are now open for the Chief Medical Officer job
The job comes with an €187,578 annual salary and the deadline for applications is 30 June.