The HSE could implement a new incident management system as soon as next month in an attempt to speed up investigations into unexpected tragedies like the Savita Halappanavar case.

Former government minister and ceann comhairle John O’Connell has been remembered as “a great humanitarian who did great good in his world”.

WHEN the late Dr John O’Connell TD contested the first European Parliament elections — against the wishes of his party, Labour — it was the first political campaign I ever experienced.

Tributes have been paid following the death of former minister and ceann comhairle Dr John O’Connell.

Tributes have been paid following the death of former minister and Ceann Comhairle Dr John O’Connell.

A leading Irish doctor is admitting GPs' mismanagement of long-term sick leave is costing taxpayer's money.

Medical cards for people who are dead, have left the country or are no longer entitled to them are costing the taxpayer as much as €210m a year.

THE Irish Examiner’s Fiachra Ó Cionnaith is the 2011 young medical journalist of the year.

THE HSE wants to recruit more junior doctors from abroad than the number of posts it needs to fill as part of plans to cut spiralling costs for existing staff.

PUBLIC hospitals are owed almost €200 million in unpaid private patient charges, inpatient levies and other costs over the past year as a direct result of insurance coverage delays.

THE HSE fell almost €300 million short of its private income target last year, giving rise to the possibility taxpayers may be forced to plug the financial gap.

THE HSE has launched an internal review of the trolley crisis after hospitals across the country failed to manage the recent surge in emergency department patient numbers.

TEN major hospitals have been forced to offer services despite failing to reach the necessary staffing levels due to ongoing public service employment restrictions.

IRELAND’S medical watchdog has warned that patients are at risk of serious medical mistakes because EU workforce rules mean common market doctors do not need to pass English language exams to work in this country.

The Health Service Executive is spending more than €68 million annually on mobility aids such as wheelchairs, crutches and walking frames. During 2009 the HSE spent almost €188,000 a day on such specialised equipment.

THE chair of the GAA’s Medical, Scientific and Welfare Committee is to raise the Association’s decision to limit physiotherapy reimbursement as part of its player injury scheme with GAA president Christy Cooney.

DESPITE outgoing chief executive of the HSE Brendan Drumm openly admitting to struggling with the high profile-nature of the job, 34 people have applied to take up his €320,000-a-year basic salary post.

SURGERIES for morbidly obese people here could cost the public almost €6 million every 12 months within the next decade, it has been claimed.

ALMOST 90% of pregnant women who reported psychological problems such as depression failed to be referred to a mental health service, a study has found.

SIX out of every 10 GPs in Ireland believe patients are delaying visits to their doctor as a direct result of the economic downturn.

The survey of 90 general practitioners by the Irish Medical Times shows a marked decline in satisfaction with the performance of the Health Service Executive (HSE) chief executive Professor Brendan Drumm.

The Irish Medical Times is looking for entries for a competition to judge the 'Best use of IT in healthcare’.

A CT SCANNER remains idle in a rented outbuilding behind a garage in Monaghan while the Health Service Executive (HSE) decides on its future.

Richard Collins on an amphibian that may provide the solution to diabetes.

A NEW designer drug which could kill those who consume it is growing in popularity around the world and could be on its way here.

THE former head of Crumlin Hospital’s emergency department will contest the election opposing the Taoiseach’s preference to centralise paediatric care at the Mater Hospital.

ENDA KENNY is very keen to wash his hands of the incumbent’s handling of the health system.

MENTAL health sufferers are among the most vulnerable people in Irish society and thus it is worrying to note the level of dissatisfaction with recently introduced tribunals, set up specifically to protect the interests of those incarcerated to institutions against their will.

A CORNER has told doctors to report cases where MRSA was a patient’s cause of death.

PHARMACISTS are calling for the morning-after pill to be made available over-the-counter as it is in Britain Research published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology shows the potential for a 10% reduction in teenage pregnancies with the introduction of legislation liberalising emergency contraception availability.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Union has added its voice to calls for the morning-after pill to made available over the counter.

A DOCTOR accused of indecently assaulting dozens of his female patients has demanded that the Medical Council allow him confront his accusers in public.

PEANUT allergies are becoming increasingly common in Ireland, with upwards of 16,000 Irish children affected by the potentially serious condition, an expert warned.

IRELAND’S largest hospital is expected to be saturated with delayed-discharge patients within months.

A DOCTOR accused of indecently assaulting more than 30 of his female patients has been warned that he continues to be prohibited from practicing medicine despite the ending of criminal proceedings against him.

NURSES have won the right to take two paid half-days to attend the Mary From Dungloe and Rory Gallagher festivals after taking their case to the Labour Court.

A KEY part of the Government’s €70 million plan to tackle the A&E crisis has suffered a major setback with the axing of the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) tendering process to extend out-of-hours GP cover.

DUBLIN could be on the brink of a TB epidemic, a medical expert has warned.

A PUBLIC inquiry into the quality of hospital care in the north-east is expected to be held at the end of April.

Breast cancer sufferers in the west of Ireland face more than double the risk of having a mastectomy compared to women treated in Dublin, according to research published in the Irish Medical Times.

BABIES born at night had more than double the death rate of daytime deliveries, according to a survey of thousands of births at a Cork hospital.

A PSYCHIATRIST chosen to work with homeless people in Dublin has had his job offer withdrawn because of a row over funding.

THE primary radiotherapy centre in the country has scored lowest in the quality of its cancer service in a survey of six Dublin hospitals by a team of international experts.

HOSPITAL consultants will not be reimbursed for treating private patients in public hospitals under Government plans to co-locate public and private facilities.