Irish health system report card: a year of criticisms, concerns and innovations
From rows about staffing, waiting lists and cost overruns to resignations of senior staff, heathcare was never far from the news headlines in 2024
Stephen Donnelly
Total of 263 transplants as a result of organ donations carried out in 2024
HSE commends ‘selflessness of 84 deceased and 30 living organ donors and their families’ who made procedures possible
All women will receive same level of allowance for post-mastectomy and hair loss products after cancer treatment
HSE has introduced change to remove local variations in products and allowances available
‘It’s not for the faint hearted’: Catherine Murphy on poor planning, emigration and political conflict
The Social Democrats co-founder, who has retired from the Dáil, says problems that got her into politics four decades ago remain to be resolved
Audit shows spending of €19m to reduce spinal waiting lists for children was used for purpose intended
Minister told the Seanad in July that funding for spinal services had been allocated ‘far more broadly’ across the Children’s Health Ireland group
Stephen Donnelly sought advice on whether State could take over children’s hospitals in Dublin
Legal advice was that such intervention could only take place if independent review identified serious governance or other failings
Stephen Donnelly’s frustration with Children’s Health Ireland building for some time
Delays in children’s orthopaedic surgery and the appointment of a CEO, along with concern around investment priorities were issues for Minister for Health
Subsidiary of main National Children’s Hospital contractor to secure major State building project
Analysis by State determines benefits ‘clearly outweigh’ costs of Technological University buildings planned for Galway and Letterkenny, Carlow and Waterford, and Shannon
Who is in government now, when does the new one start and what happens to losing TDs?
General election explainer: The earliest we can expect negotiations about the formation of the next government to conclude is mid-January
Stephen Donnelly becomes biggest political casualty of election as he loses seat in Wicklow
Fianna Fáil Minister for Health loses out in marathon count as constituency rival, Taoiseach Simon Harris, earns strong ‘Government vote’ at his expense
Winners and losers in general election 2024
Close-fought races and the tantalising prospect of power brought relief for the victorious but crushing lows for those rejected by the electorate
Election claims number of ministers’ seats as Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly look set to lose out
Fianna Fáil Minister for Health won just 6 per cent of first preference votes as his Cabinet colleague and constituency rival Simon Harris topped the poll
Wicklow constituency candidates list: One of the bear pits of Election 2024 after loss of territory to neighbouring area
Election 2024: Taoiseach Simon Harris will be safe but bringing home a running mate is not assured
Lucy Nugent has been appointed new chief executive of Children’s Health Ireland
Appointment follows two senior resignations at CHI as it prepares for completion of new national children’s hospital next year
Ireland’s landscape for clinical trials ‘overly complex’, study finds
Report for Minister of Health recommends introduction of contract templates, key performance indicators and a unified costing framework
A race for the magic number across 43 constituencies to rule the largest Dáil in history
The number of seats has risen from 160 to 174, and the only certainty is that there will be plenty of skirmishes and subplots in the electoral battle
Ireland set to approve its first full Ambassador from Palestine
Cabinet also expected to approve new AI strategy and will hear of reduction in waiting times to see consultant
‘There has to be a shorter, more compassionate way,’ says woman who considered taking medical negligence case after husband’s death
Doctors, patients and family members are all suffering due to the lengthy and expensive management of clinical negligence claims
Ireland could agree new deal with Kenya allowing for recruitment of more nurses and midwives
Stephen Donnelly says the deal will be ethical and in line with WHO and OECD guidelines
Sinn Féin proposing free prescriptions for all if elected to Government
Election 2024: Sinn Féin to launch new healthcare policy as it fights to regain momentum
Ageing population takes its toll on Ireland’s health system
With the proportion of elderly people increasing as the population rises, how will the country cope with the health implications of these changing demographics?
Majority of children on spinal waiting list will have surgery or date by end of year - Donnelly
Outsourcing initiatives in Ireland and abroad are being used to tackle list with 138 children still waiting
Donnelly says extra €50m needed for clinical negligence cases due to increased claims and settlements
Minister says total allocation to the State Claims Agency for clinical negligence will be €485m
Plans for €434m in health savings revised after new Government funding plan agreed during summer
Department of Health says that target is reset to €368m
‘Disturbing’ that charity has to take legal action over building lent to hospital, says Stephen Donnelly
Minister for Health ‘concerned’ that Beaumont Hospital has still not handed back support unit borrowed from Irish Kidney Association in 2020
Stress and substance misuse are a ‘scourge’ on doctors, says medical council president
Increase in mental health-related issues within medical profession, annual conference of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association told
Appointment of UHL executive to new senior role ‘not a promotion’, Donnelly says
Colette Cowan appointed among integrated healthcare area managers in midwest while facing disciplinary proceedings following Aoife Johnston’s death at University Hospital Limerick
Children’s hospital row: ‘Naive’ to think issues around delays are ‘sorted’, says Stephen Donnelly
National Paediatric Hospital Development Board says it could not express confidence in most recent revised substantial completion date
Minister for Health still ‘fully expects’ State to take ownership of children’s hospital next year
Stephen Donnelly says commissioning of facility accelerated and staff could move in ‘maybe before final completion date’
Parents of babies born in December to receive treble child benefit payment
Budget 2025: Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald challenges Taoiseach to ‘bring it on’ and name general election date
Children’s surgery waiting times: Government’s frustration over delays ‘cannot be overstated’, Donnelly tells CHI chair
Minister for Health says in letter to board of Children’s Health Ireland it is ‘unacceptable that greater progress was not made before now’
Tax leads to significant decline in consumption of sugary drinks
Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax sees 25 per cent drop in consumption of sugary drinks
Donnelly criticises Children’s Health Ireland board over delays in seeking new chief
Failure to set substantial completion date for new national children’s hospital a significant risk to commissioning programme for the project, CHI chairman says
Children’s hospital, Metrolink and bike shed are all symptoms of a deep governmental malaise
Like Britain, we suffer from advanced administrative sclerosis, but we’re in complete denial
On-the-spot fine for those caught selling tobacco or vapes at events aimed at children comes into effect
Measure is part of strategy aimed at eliminating the use of tobacco products and protecting children
Haven’t we already tried restricting access to contraception to stop people having sex?
Aontú is concerned the proposed extension of the free contraception scheme to 16-year-olds amounts to a State-sponsored behavioural nudge: where their parents got SSIAs or Eircom shares, today’s young women would get Mirena coils
What’s so tricky about the proposal to give free contraception to 16-year-olds?
Give Me a Crash Course in ...
Cheap loans for builders and more money for Irish Water among Ministers’ proposals for Apple tax billions
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is understood to be targeting expanded funding for the Land Development Agency to build 20,000 homes by 2030
Irish medical claims system ‘propagating a cycle of harm’ for patients and society, says NHM doctor
New report from Stephen Donnelly and Dr Rhona Murphy examines rising costs to taxpayer of medical negligence cases
Children’s exposure to harmful online content a ‘public health crisis’, says Minister
Stronger laws may be needed to safeguard young people, according to Stephen Donnelly
Free contraception for 16-year-olds amounts to State giving licence for underage sex, says Aontú's Tóibín
Stephen Donnelly is seeking an expansion to the scheme providing free contraception to women – including possibly to 16-year-olds
HSE awarded €500m worth of tenders to external companies in past eight years, figures show
Consultancy firm Ernst and Young was paid a total of €33.5m by health service in 2023 for orders over €100,000
Vaping: What are the Irish Government’s planned restrictions and will they succeed?
Plans to restrict the sale and advertising of vaping products and ban single-use vapes are in train but challenges lie ahead
Safe zones surrounding centres providing abortion services to come into operation next month
Protests within 100m of hospitals and other facilities offering pregnancy terminations will be prohibited from mid-October
‘Vaping is the revenge of the tobacco industry’, Taoiseach says as he backs new restrictions
Sale of disposable vapes in State would be banned under proposals brought before Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting
Transgender woman says she was unable to receive ‘basic healthcare’ at Dublin hospital after gender surgery
St James’s Hospital advised Paige Behan to go instead to Holles Street
More than half of patients assessed under HSE programme at risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease
HSE publishes first report of Opportunistic Case Finding Programme at its national conference on integrated care
Gaza children on way to Republic for medical treatment
More than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed and almost 94,400 wounded in Israel’s military offensive, says Gaza health ministry
Online platforms are harming children in ‘really sinister, dark ways’, says Donnelly
Online platforms are harming children in ‘really sinister, dark ways’, says Stephen Donnelly as online health taskforce is announced
Former Ryanair executive to be appointed to HSE board
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly seeks to improve productivity in the service
Mean to the fiddler: Band in unfair sacking case had more than €376,000 in earnings
Plus: Pizza man Brian MacGoey buys an upper-crust pad, Google eyes Boland’s Mills merch, and Young Fine Gael in a flap about proposed social media ban
Health service research group handed €2.5m to help shape clinical guidelines
High-quality information ‘more important than ever’, says Stephen Donnelly
Ageing Ireland: What can the Government do to deal with a rising and older population?
As key services in education, health, housing and transport struggle with increasing demand, plans are being devised to deal with pressures from rising immigration and people living longer
Taking disciplinary action in healthcare can be lengthy process due to complexity of employment-related disputes
There have been a number of cases in which people in high-profile positions at a healthcare facility that experienced controversy stepped down without any findings of wrongdoing being made against them
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