Health – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

The crucial work general practice has been doing throughout the global pandemic…

Soapbox on September 13, 2021, 10:07 am

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stethoscope, hospital, doctor

Dr Laurence Dorman is Chair of RCGP Northern Ireland… As Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners in Northern Ireland, I wish to refute some of the comments made by Mr Terry Maguire on your website last week and to highlight the crucial work general practice has been doing throughout the global pandemic. Like Mr Maguire, all GPs want to provide the highest standard of patient care including access and timely repeat prescribing. His comments are in significant contrast …

Why it’s so hard to get an appointment with your GP…

Brian O'Neill on September 2, 2021, 7:08 am

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Crop unrecognizable woman showing chiropractor painful spot on back

Last week I had the fun experience of trying to get through to my son’s doctor. Junior had a rash and I was hoping to ask the doctor what cream would be best to treat it. I was not even after an appointment, just advice over the phone. I phoned about 9:50 am and got the hold music, so far so normal. I don’t mind going on hold, I just put the phone on speaker and go and do some …

General Practice is making pharmacists’ lives very difficult and is potentially risking patient safety…

Terry Maguire on September 1, 2021, 7:22 am

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medicine, pills, blood pressure

GPs locked the surgery doors on 16th March 2020 and have, it seem, only resumed a basic service. Officially no one is saying so; it’s an uncomfortable truth and GPs are everywhere making the case they work harder than ever. Perhaps they do. When GP spokespersons appear outside practices to tell us how exhausted and burned out they are we might be hearing the truth or we could be witnessing spin at its apogee. Patient access remains constrained to the …

COVID vaccinations in the age of anxiety: Fear, the great equaliser…

Soapbox on August 17, 2021, 3:58 pm

| Readers 1885

man, mask, covid

Shanice Atkins is Press & Policy officer/ freelance writer from Derry. “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Marie Curie It happened as I sat there on the squeaky, plastic seat. The air of anticipation gone, a giddiness still lingered. All those seated, waiting their 15 minutes smiled at one another, nodding in a silent appreciation of what we had just received. The promise of days beyond COVID seemed just within reach. Moments before …

Partition had very negative side effects for this pharmacist…

Terry Maguire on August 15, 2021, 8:22 am

| Readers 1830

pharmacy, antique, old

It was the best of times it was the worst of times……. Because of my obsession with great stories and always keen for a better one, I was enthralled by a BBC podcast “The Pharmacist” which charted the rise and fall of a respected Belfast pharmacist Matthew McDonald MPSI who practiced in Belfast in the first quarter of the 20th Century. From what history his great-great grandson, Australian Ian McBurney, could find it seems the political environment he lived and …

Hain accuses Johnson, Cameron, May of NI ‘neglect’ – and Foster for ‘lapdog’ tendency

Paul Gosling on August 13, 2021, 6:00 am

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Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron must accept part of the responsibility for the continuing “gridlock” of politics in Northern Ireland, through their failure to engage in the political process here, argues former Labour secretary of state Peter Hain. He also allocates blame to Conservative secretaries of state, with the exception of Julian Smith. Hain says that prime ministers must recognise that their role includes strong engagement with the Northern Ireland parties, in order to keep political progress on track. “You …

Political legacy of distrust cannot be wished away, says Donaldson

Paul Gosling on August 6, 2021, 9:00 am

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The distrust between Northern Ireland’s political parties remains a legacy of the conflict and cannot be wished away or ignored, says DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson. He adds that the events of the Bobby Storey funeral and commemorations of dead members of the Provisional IRA mean that the Troubles remain a continuing source of tension between the largest parties. He was speaking in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast. Jeffrey argues that not only are the British government’s legacy proposals …

I’m going on a journey…

Robert Campbell on July 31, 2021, 11:24 am

| Readers 3558

bridge, park, outside

I’m on a journey, one I’ve never been on before. It’s not exactly a “magical mystery tour”, for I know the destination — the terminus — and while I can guess at some of the intermediate stops, I can’t be certain of them. I imagine I’m in a steam train, a slow train which stops everywhere, though sometimes it might be an express. I don’t know how long this journey will take, though my fare is a single rather than …

The legacy of the past can still be felt in today’s political relationships, warns O’Neill

Paul Gosling on July 30, 2021, 9:05 am

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Legacy is being discussed at length at present, following the British government’s proposals to abandon prosecutions and investigations related to Troubles’ events. But there is another toxic legacy – the impact of past events on current political relationships. That aspect of legacy is discussed with Sinn Féin Vice President and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast. Michelle argues that political leaders must work hard to build trust, to enable the political system here to …

Christians should support the right to life by get vaccinated…

Terry Maguire on July 30, 2021, 7:22 am

| Readers 1969

vaccine, coronavirus, medical

Perhaps it’s me, but I just couldn’t see where Jim Wells was coming from in a recent Belfast Telegraph article on his views of Covid vaccines. Here’s Jim as reported in the Tele which might give some sense of why I was confused. “It is not an anti-vaccine issue it is an ethical issue. I have had a large number of Christians who have said to me: ‘Look we are not opposed to vaccines and are not into these conspiracy …

Slugger event at John Hewitt Summer School: What’s good for the economy, good for the environment and good for people?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 23, 2021, 5:18 pm

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Slugger O’Toole returns to the John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh next Wednesday evening (28 July at 7pm) with a panel discussion looking at the triangle between economy, environment and people. Is Northern Ireland keeping those three aspects in balance? Are we destroying people and the planet in the name of prosperity? Can we ensure that wellbeing, sustainability and justice benefit everyone? I’ll be joined by Steven Agnew, Dawn Purvis and Joanne Stuart to mull over what’s good for …

American Big Pharma and the US opioid epidemic…

Terry Maguire on July 22, 2021, 1:09 pm

| Readers 973

With such focus on Covid19, the US opioid pandemic has largely been ignored in the UK yet continues to destroy lives, devastate families and fracture communities and it worsened rather than lessened as Covid19 ravaged the US. The US Centre for Disease Control published provisional data recently showing that 2020 was a record year for drug overdose deaths with 93,331, up 29% from a year earlier. 500,000 deaths between 1999 and 2019 need to be explained so cities, states, counties …

Neurotypical Nonsense: A Beginner’s Guide

CM Johnston on July 21, 2021, 1:51 pm

| Readers 1689

It all started with a trip to the funfair, complete with its overload of noise, lights and crashing machinery, and a casual remark from my bemused oldest: “what is this neurotypical nonsense?” And so, the Big List of Neurotypical Nonsense was born. And we’re going to share some of it here. Neurotypical nonsense is, according to my two proudly Autism spectrum teens, anything so ludicrously head-wrecking it could never have been invented by an Autistic person*. Because if it had …

National Food Strategy Report – Food should make us well instead of sick…

Lisa Wells on July 15, 2021, 12:08 pm

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Listening to BBC Breakfast this morning (other breakfast tv shows are available but my choice is the BBC, it’s the least bad option until Frasier starts on Channel 4) my ears pricked up when I heard the headlines “Tax on sugar, salt and GPs to prescribe fruit and vegetables!!!” I could feel the red mist descend as the conclusion that I nearly jumped to on hearing that headline was that the price of food would rocket and make life even …

The Ulster Unionist Party reflects on the future of Northern Ireland

Paul Gosling on July 9, 2021, 9:05 am

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The third series of Holywell Trust’s Forward Together podcasts has heard from experts in a range of areas – including the economy, skills, education, young people’s experience, housing – and also considered best practice elsewhere. As it moves towards a close, it puts the arguments for major change in the governance of Northern Ireland to our political leaders. In the first of this closing series of podcasts, we spoke to Steve Aiken – who at the time was still leader of the …

Italy’s social co-ops – a model for Northern Ireland to copy?

Paul Gosling on June 25, 2021, 9:04 am

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Social care provision is in crisis across much of the world. How can the quality of care be maintained or improved? How can it be made available to those who need it? And how can social care be carried out in an affordable way without underpaying or exploiting its workers? These questions are being asked in many countries and regions. Italy has come up with its own answer – social co-operatives – and its model is being copied across much …

Home Truths: A coherent case for investing in more social housing

Soapbox on June 24, 2021, 7:52 am

| Readers 1523

It’s been fifty years since the establishment of the Housing Executive in 1971. Here, the organisation’s current Chairman, Professor Peter Roberts, delivers some home truths on social housing, arguing a partnership for change must be established to open the gates to a more positive future for housing in Northern Ireland. Over the past eight months, since Minister Ní Chuilín’s ambitious announcement on the future of housing and Minister Hargey’s commitment to the revitalisation of the Housing Executive, I’ve been asked …

“Absolute silence for 30 minutes on school buses as all girls are using mobile phones…”

Brian O'Neill on June 23, 2021, 11:54 am

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The headline is a quote from Bloomfield Collegiate School principal Gary Greer in a letter to parents. Pupils were informed this morning in registration that a mobile phone ban would be put in place for the remainder of the term. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, we have real concerns about mental health and the lack of ability to socialise due to too much screen time during lock down. It has been reported to me that there is absolute silence …

Fifty Years of Drug Prohibition in the UK…

Terry Maguire on June 1, 2021, 4:44 pm

| Readers 1567

On 27th May 1971 the UK government brought onto the statute books the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) and for the last 50 years this Act has dictated how drugs with a potential for misuse, controlled drugs (CDs), are handled by healthcare professionals and what punishments criminal courts must impose for possession or supplying illegally. The MDA created drug classes and drug schedules and the public often confuse these terms. “Class” determines the level of sanction for possession or supply …