Dr Goggin and her co-investigators present a study revealing 57% cancer survivors have ⬇️ social networks. Only 37% of older patients had access to computer/internet 🖥️. ⬆️social isolation than general population. Caitríona Goggin #survonc #supponc doi.org/10.1093/oncolo…

I am not familiar with the system Martin Curley is proposing. I fully agree with the idea that there are existing systems that have been available for two generations that could have been adopted or tendered for, and that a functional EHR is critical for Ireland at this point.

The lack of an electronic health record is frankly a national embarrassment at this point. From a patient perspective real time access to my own data is what I want please. 350k€ on a bike shed is salt in the wound

A reminder of the challenges faced by cancer patients. Included in there is the risk of one famous person saying that they "survived" without "conventional" treatment, with the implication that we could all give that a go and be grand... nature.com/articles/s4427… (O'Reilly et al)

As things currently stand, it seems to me that medical oncology is currently on course to become a fully formed two-tiered healthcare system in Ireland. A system in which those with insurance get objectively better anti-cancer treatment in private hospitals, compared to those

Patient advocate groups need to come together on this too. Thanks michaeltmccarthy for flying the flag Roberta Horgan 🇮🇪 Michael Rynne Seamus Cotter Siobhan Gaynor Bridget Carr

Fully agree with Miriam Staunton that cancer patient advocates have to join forces and become a stronger voice. I also appreciate and support michaeltmccarthy who has continually highlighted the inequity in access to novel treatments for patients.

I'm with Miriam 💯 Who's with us? Ability to pay should NEVER be the deciding factor on whether or not people with cancer can access the best treatments. Every patient deserves the best possible outcome. Time for all advocates to unite #CancerInequalities #CancerTreatment

Roberta, unfortunately, ability to pay is now essential for a growing range of cancers to access the best treatments. This is was never the case before 2023, but it is now. In plain sight. Again, unfortunately.

I agree that the nursing team at the NCCP have done a great job on this triage project. I know a lot of people at the NCCP have put a lot of time and effort into this, and it is to be commended. To clarify, when the SOS hotline suggests that hospital admission is

michaeltmccarthy NCCP getting admitted without passing through the ED is nigh on impossible .I remember a time when urgent appropriate admission could be arranged by the patients GP directly with the clinical team on take . I have never understood why that had to change.

BioBANC na Gaillimhe #BnG3 kicked off today Ollscoil na Gaillimhe | University of Galway. Programme: stories.universityofgalway.ie/biobanc-na-gai… Thanks to support from National Breast Cancer Research Institute, Genial Compliance, Institute for Clinical Trials - Uni of Galway and our colleagues and students.

The looming crisis facing Irish Hospital medicine in the next 5-10 years is out of hours service provision. This is largely because of the challenge of recruiting Non Consultant Hospital Doctors (NCHDs), upon which out of hours service delivery fully depends. Most current

michaeltmccarthy I agree that out of hours community and hospital care is a major staffing concern, now & future Too long delegated to the most inexperienced staff, without adequate infrastructure or support to escalate PA’s not the answer to this problem

michaeltmccarthy If there is a vision for healthcare in Ireland, why can the HSE and DoH not do workforce planning across services that would help them achieve the vision? May not be perfect but enough is known to make this a decent starting point.

A good question. In general, in hospitals consultant is the only grade of doctor job that is offered on a permanent basis. Non-consultant posts are temporary, and ideally function as training posts. From year to year in your local hospital, in general, the consultants stay,

A long time ago, I was a medical student. The transition from being a medical student, to being a very junior doctor (NCHD), is wild. It is a transition from principle and theory to application and practice, overnight when you pass the exams. Paying medical students is not

Nearly 20 years ago, M John Kennedy also weighed in on this issue: m.independent.ie/life/health-we…

The older I get, the more I agree. I was recently asked by a patient to prescribe ivermectin to treat a cancer. I do not mind if people take alternative therapies. It is just that there isn’t a reason to believe they will be effective. And alternative therapies are not

Two more patients today referred to a private hospital for cancer treatment. More than a year ago, I pointed this out in writing to Department of Health, as part of the public consultation to the DoHs Mazars implementation group. In addition to the written statement on behalf of ISMO,