Health – Slugger O'Toole

We are not moving forward. We are not moving back. We are simply standing in the middle of the road…

Soapbox on October 4, 2022, 11:28 am | Readers 917

Colin McGrath is an SDLP MLA for South Down The creation of the National Health Service on 5 July 1948 was the first time, anywhere in the world, that completely free healthcare was made available based on citizenship. It was and remains for many, a radical ideal. The Minister for Health in the UK’s Labour government at the time, Aneurin Bevan, aware that many people saw its inception as radical responded with typical post-war Labour zeal, “We know what happens …

Reasons to be cheerful – Africa declared free of wild polio after no cases in four years…

Brian O'Neill on August 26, 2020, 11:03 am | Readers 291

I am in a glum mood today. The inability of our government to do the most basic tasks like sort out a water system or put in some bike lanes depresses me. Thankfully emotions are like the weather, and in a while, this gloom shall make way for the bright rays of emotional sunshine. Something that did lift my mood was the news that polio has been eradicated in Africa. From the Irish Times: Water-borne infection at one point paralysed …

Dispatches from the front-lines of the Coronavirus panic…

Terry Maguire on March 7, 2020, 7:00 am | Readers 1638

On TV News last week we learned that N. Ireland had its first victim of the new plague that is Covid-19. This novel coronavirus that started off life in a pangolin sold as an exotic food from a fish-market in Wuhan, China, had finally reached these shores on a Thursday night. I don’t think the media fully appreciate the sheer panic they unleased in a public, in its infinite ignorance, already very worried indeed. A local radio host dedicated his …

Pandemics come and go; but smoking, air pollution and poverty are ever present…

Brian O'Neill on March 5, 2020, 12:33 pm | Readers 1280

The always excellent Dr Phil Hammond gives a much-needed sense of perspective on the Coronavirus outbreak in his latest MD column for Private Eye. Click the image below to enlarge it to read the text, read all 3 images. https://twitter.com/Cymroid/status/1235246441523634178?s=20 They estimate there are around 8.8m early deaths a year worldwide caused by outdoor air pollution alone. Locally in Belfast poor air quality has been linked to 178 deaths in a single year. Last December the air pollution in Letterkenny …

Soapbox – Here we go again?

Soapbox on December 31, 2019, 11:30 am | Readers 3497

SOAPBOX – The PUP’s Councillor John Kyle reflects on the talks process, calling for elected representatives to listen to the voters and move beyond virtue signalling and blaming others to take action and deliver results by overcoming their mutual animosity. “Petty party politics has failed, the people deserve better.”

Where does the buck stop with the health service?

Jay Burbank on December 8, 2019, 8:22 pm | Readers 905

With the ongoing crisis in our public health infrastructure it is important to remember one key element which is not examined in depth, especially in periods of strike action; accountability of management. The media narrative being spun by some that a disgruntled workforce of nurses have exacerbated a crisis ought to be heavily countered and discredited as it is simply untrue. As documented by every outlet during a sitting Stormont administration and since then during the hiatus, the health crisis …

“I can not understand why this population is so docile. If you trample on their cultural identity they will riot in the streets. But if their grannies’ legs are literally falling off they just accept it as that’s life…”

Brian O'Neill on December 4, 2019, 12:26 pm | Readers 3119

Wise words from the good doctor who was interviewed on BBC Spotlight about the health waiting lists. Here we go… number 1 pic.twitter.com/UOUMdhH26W — Adam Turkington (@AdamTurks) December 4, 2019 As you may know, I have written some posts about the health service. It can dismay you how few readers they get. A post on health will get 500 readers; a post on bonfires will get 5000. I have often thought about why this is. The only thing I can …

Ulster University and where to find 100 more doctors?

Jay Burbank on November 28, 2019, 7:55 pm | Readers 3316

It has been an argument raging on for 50 years, it briefly united Unionist and Nationalist elected reps in a period of violent division but it has yet to be resolved; a University for our second city. When the Stormont government attempted to shutdown the Magee University College (as it then was) campus and divert its resources to the New Ulster University in Coleraine which was recommended by the Lockwood Report. The City rose up in unity with Brian …

Either side of the border, hospital waiting times in Ireland are the longest in Europe

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on November 24, 2019, 2:55 pm | Readers 6918

The crisis with Northern Ireland’s hospital waiting times has highlighted the vast disparity between waiting times in Northern Ireland compared with those in Great Britain. However, the waiting times in Northern Ireland aren’t just atrocious in a UK context, but in an international context as well. Waiting times across the border are the worst of any nation state in Europe, and the situation in Northern Ireland is significantly worse. The chart above shows the number of patients waiting over one …

Northern Ireland’s healthcare system is broken

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on November 20, 2019, 12:27 am | Readers 5097

Northern Ireland’s hospital inpatient waiting times are atrocious. According to the latest data released by the Department of Health, 41.3% of inpatient waiting times exceeded 52 weeks in the second quarter of 2019. There are no regions in England or Wales where the equivalent figure even exceeded 1% (I could not locate equivalent data for Scotland). By comparison, only 0.06% of inpatients in the Midlands of England waited over 52 weeks for admission to hospital; the probability of waiting over …

Getting creative with health…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on October 10, 2019, 5:13 pm | Readers 409

Creativity is a fundamental part of human nature, and the use of the arts to improve health and wellbeing is not a new idea. Yet we still tend to think of the arts as the remit of the talented few with most of us giving up artistic pursuits as we leave school and get older. Unlike other behaviours that can be beneficial to our health, such as exercise, a varied diet and social support, we don’t think of creative engagement …

The importance of doing what you can to improve your health…

Brian O'Neill on September 24, 2019, 3:38 pm | Readers 1806

The wife’s uncle in America has died. Years ago he was like a lot of the population. He was gaining weight, not an unusual situation in this modern world of cheap junk food and sedentary lifestyle. The doctor diagnosed him with type 2 diabetes and prescribed him lots of pills and potions, so far a familiar tale. But what he did next shocked us all – he turned vegan. He had conservative views on many social matters, so I didn’t …

Northern Ireland’s fiscal deficit is shrinking, but not in a sustainable way

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on September 22, 2019, 2:25 pm | Readers 8430

Given recent polling showing that support for Irish unity is at all-time highs in Northern Ireland, there has again been a significant amount of scrutiny on the Northern Ireland fiscal deficit (also known as the subvention or block grant), the gap between taxation and government spending in Northern Ireland that it is assumed would have to be absorbed by the Irish government in the event of Irish unification. The charts at the top of the post show Northern Ireland tax …

Northern Ireland outpatient waiting lists are 100 times more than England’s…

Brian O'Neill on September 20, 2019, 12:04 pm | Readers 2013

FactCheckNI confirms Mark H Durkins comment on the health waiting lists: From the article: CLAIM: 105,486 people were waiting over a year for a consultant-led outpatient appointment in Northern Ireland, which is 100 times more than in England, with its population 30 times greater. CONCLUSION: ACCURATE. 105,486 and 1,089 people were waiting over a year for a consultant-led outpatient appointment in Northern Ireland and England, respectively. The estimated population of Northern Ireland and England is 55,977,178 and 1,881,600, respectively. The …

The impact of Brexit on Health in Northern Ireland…

Robert Campbell on September 3, 2019, 7:51 pm | Readers 3326

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg was on Nick Ferrari’s LBC show on Monday 2 September; he was taking phone calls. Dr David Nicholl, a consultant neurologist, called to ask what mortality rates could be expected in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Dr Nicholl wrote the relevant mitigation part in the Operation Yellowhammer document. Rees-Mogg has been characterised in the past as having quite exquisite politeness, extreme almost to farce. He wasn’t at all polite to the caller, saying that this was …

We don’t know how Brexit is going to affect cross-border provision of health care, but one thing is certain: the current situation leaves plenty of room for improvement…

Soapbox on June 7, 2019, 12:51 pm | Readers 1500

Paul Gosling recently posted about Professor Jim Dornan’s comments about the requirement for integrated provision of health care over the whole of Ireland. This article fills in some additional detail on hospital care, with special reference to the impact the lack of an integrated approach has had on the North West of Ireland. While there are many admirable aspects of specialist health services on both sides of the Irish border, provision of health care in general is suboptimal for people …

Future Ireland / Healthcare in ‘A New Ireland’

Paul Gosling on November 24, 2018, 8:38 am | Readers 4135

In producing the report – now a book – ‘A New Ireland’ this year, I conducted lots of interviews asking people about the prospect of Irish reunification. The issue of healthcare in a united Ireland was consistently cited as a major concern. Northern perceptions of the southern system are very negative. Views within the Republic are not that positive either, for sound reasons. But it is only fair to point out that the NHS in Northern Ireland is in crisis. …

Let’s play shuffle the Granny! The absurdity of our health service waiting lists…

Brian O'Neill on November 12, 2018, 4:32 pm | Readers 1110

Good report by Seanín Graham in today’s Irish News on the surreal situation of patients going abroad for surgery. Essentially a patient can pay to get treated in another European country and the health service will reimburse them the cost when they come home. With waiting lists up to 4 or 5 years for operations like hip replacements many patients are taking this approach, and who could blame them. From the article: A SPIKE in the number of patients travelling across Europe for …

Jamie Dornan helps launch new pancreatic cancer action group

Gary Kirby on August 1, 2018, 8:58 pm | Readers 1722

A new community group to promote better outcomes for pancreatic cancer sufferers launched today at the Mater Hospital in Belfast. Pancreatic cancer is a major health issue for Northern Ireland, with around 270 deaths per annum. It has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer – rates which haven’t changed markedly in 40 years. Pancreatic cancer is on the increase, with experts predicting that it will be the second biggest cancer killer in the US by 2030. Local …

Professor Rafael Bengoa – too many health services are based around buildings rather than being centred on what people and communities need…

Brian O'Neill on June 12, 2018, 5:11 pm | Readers 1040

Professor Rafael Bengoa the health reform specialist and the author of the Bengoa Report is back in town today to deliver a lecture at Queens. To mark his visit he has written the following article. I’m delighted to be back in Northern Ireland today, catching up with old friends and finding out at first-hand about the latest developments in health and social care. It is always an inspiration to see for myself the commitment and expertise of staff – and the …