Health Minister Leo Varadkar’s pledge’s to improve patients waiting lists
“WITH new RIGHTS LAW PROPOSAL”
There are always parts of the health budget that we cannot control, says health Minister Leo Varadkar
Health Minister Leo Varadkar is promising new rights for patients on waiting lists, guaranteeing treatment within a fixed period of time.
The Fine Gael leadership contender also says that he has no regrets about his outspoken views on a variety of topics over the course of the year.
His comments on garda whistleblowers, Universal Health Insurance, the budget and abortion have caused problems for the Government.
“I’m going to keep speaking my mind, within reason. Sometimes I do bite my tongue, by the way. It’s not that I say everything that comes to mind,” he says.00:00 / 02:39
Mr Varadkar says he will look to draft legislation, based on a European-model, which guarantees patients on a waiting list will receive treatment within a set period.
“We need a big focus on people who have been waiting for far too long, whether it’s for scans or appointments or investigations. We have seen some good progress in that already in some hospitals, so we just need to follow that model again in others,” he said.
“One thing that I have asked my officials to do a bit of work on and to draw up a paper for me on next year is around patients’ rights legislation.
“In some countries, Denmark for example – there are examples of other countries around Europe – patients actually have a legal right to get their appointment, or their procedure or their scan after a certain period of time,” he said.
“And that is something that doesn’t exist yet in Ireland. People have legal rights in Ireland to other things, including things like a place in primary school or particular social welfare benefits, or even legal aid in certain circumstances.
“But there is no legal right for a lot of things in healthcare. I think that’s one of the areas that I want some work done on in 2015.
“I am certainly not saying we will have legislation in 2015, but I would like to see what the options are,” he says. Mr Varadkar said the guarantee would be enforced by law.
However, he admits there will also be a cost associated with guaranteed medical care.
“In the same way as people have a legal right, for example, to primary education. If you can’t find a place in a primary school, what used to be the National Education Welfare Board, has to find you a place. So you could have something similar to that putting an obligation on government or on the HSE to provide healthcare within a certain time period. But of course, there would be a cost associated with that. But I think it is something that needs to be looked at.”
Mr Varadkar has also reiterated his pledge for the health service budget to be delivered on target next year.
“It is absolutely our intention that we will be on budget in 2015. We are working towards that and there is a whole new accountability and management framework in place to hold managers to account throughout 2015. But, at the same time, I have always said that there are parts of the health budget that you can’t necessarily control. Just to give two or three examples, one is State claims. If claims are made against the State, they have to be paid. Medical cards, for example, are a legal entitlement, other than discretionary medical cards, so if they are higher than predicted, there is an additional cost there, so they are the downside risks.
“There are also upside risks. We might save more on medicine than we think we are going to save, or we might manage to get more money from the insurance companies. So in any budget, particularly a budget of over €13bn, there are upside risks, of give or take a few per cent either way. You hope they balance out. They don’t always. But certainly in areas where budgets can be controlled, I expect them to be controlled.”
After several years out of the health service from his days as a trainee doctor, Mr Varadkar says there have been some changes, with improvements to cancer treatments and the national clinical programmes operating well.
“What’s enormously frustrating is so many things are exactly the same or much the same as they were when I was practising 10 years ago.
“Things like overcrowding in emergency departments, things like waiting lists. And those things they wax and wane, they get better and they get worse, but I don’t think successive governments have managed to get on top of those things.
“So definitively next year, what I really want to focus on is a significant reduction in delayed discharges, they are running at over 800 now, they should be closer to half that. And that I think could do a lot to deal with emergency department over-crowding. Secondly, a focus on very long waiters. Tony O’Brien of the HSE (inset) has already said it is going to be extremely difficult for us to meet the eight-month, 12-month and 20-month targets next year.
“But if we can’t meet those targets then perhaps we can focus on people who are going to be waiting very long periods of time, maybe 18 months or longer, which is just impossible to stand over.”
Liam Neeson will not return to Ireland because of water charges
The star says Irish people have been ‘f***ed from a great height’ by arrogant bankers and the Irish government
Actor Liam Neeson has said he will not move home to Ireland since the Fine Gael and Labour coaltion government introduced new water charges.
Liam Neeson lashes out over the austerity measures implemented by the Republic’s government.
The 62-year-old star, who hails from Co Antrim but has lived in New York for 20 years, said he had planned to return to Ireland now his two teenage sons Daniel and Michael have left home for university.
However, speaking to the Irish Sun, Neeson said he had changed his mind due to the austerity measures implemented by the government.
“We’ve been f***ed from a great height by these bankers and it’s the final straw,” he said.
“To tax Irish people for their water. Is Just wrong. I’ve always thought about coming home, especially now with my empty nest but this is just insulting. It turns me completely off.
“I just think, ‘Come on, don’t f***ing insult the Irish people any more.’ It’s terrible.
“I really hope the Government is doing something about it now and listening to the people and finding a solution. They f***ing better listen to the opposition.”
Neeson, whose wife Natasha Richardson passed away after a skiing accident in 2009, will return to the big screen in the New Year as Agent Brian Mills in the third instalment in the Taken action series.
He had previously said he would not film another Taken film but was persuaded when writer Luc Besson came up with an original script, which Neeson describes as “a perfect continuation and one I couldn’t say no to”.
He said the role made up for the Oscar-nominated star missing out on playing James Bond to Pierce Brosnan.
Homelessness alarm in Galway over numbers seeking help
"Rising rents and a shortage of social housing" in Galway pushed more and more people into the brink of homelessness in 2014.
COPE in Galway, the homeless charity, worked with around 700 households in Galway experiencing homelessness in the past year.
The charity has expressed alarm at the numbers of families seeking help this past year, and the long length of stay they were forced to remain in emergency accommodation.
In its end of year statement, COPE Galway said 18,300 bed nights were provided to 301 adult households in 2014; and that included some 2,500 bed nights to 44 children accommodated as part of families.
COPE Galway provided refuge to 70 women with 70 children who were fleeing from domestic violence at home, and a further 280 women and 200 children availed of their support and outreach service, with more than 450 appointments provided throughout Galway. The organisation also helped more than 220 older people, and provided 47,000 meals throughout the year.
“The single greatest issue clients of our homeless services have experienced over the past year is difficulty accessing housing,” said John Concannon, Chairman of COPE Galway.
“Due to a shortage of social housing our clients are mainly reliant on the private rental market. A shortage of housing in this sector, combined with ever increasing rents, has contributed to a situation where more and more families are becoming homeless, and where individuals and families who do become homeless remain so for longer as they cannot find affordable accommodation.”
He said government measures announced in December, including increased spending on social housing, should help ease the problem locally next year.
Hundreds call Child-line on Xmas Day 2014
More than 1,200 children contacted a telephone helpline for distressed youngsters on Christmas Day, volunteers said.
Children called the NSPCC childline for help with family problems or mental health issue.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) said most of the children contacting its Childline service yesterday needed help with family problems or mental health issues.
Some 57 volunteers dealt with 1,208 calls, texts and other messages during the day.
More than seven in ten (73%) calls were from boys.
Margie Roe, Childline manager, said the time of year can bring a number of problems to the fore in homes around the country.
“The season can bring unwelcome stress on families and issues such as financial pressures and alcohol misuse in the home can have a hugely negative impact on children’s experience of the day,” she said.
“Children contacted Childline on Christmas Day for a variety of reasons but the majority of calls this year were from children who were experiencing family difficulties and mental health issues.”
Ms Roe added: “While Childline will not be able to solve all of these children’s issues and concerns on Christmas Day, what we can and will continue to do is listen to, believe and empower them and most importantly of all we will show these children that we care.”
Childline faced an unprecedented funding crisis during the year, according to the service.
However, an emergency appeal raised 400,000 euro from the general public.
A recent agreement between Childline and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will also help maintain an overnight service, ensuring Childline remains open 24 hours a day, Ms Roe said.
Son Joseph Xmas gift leaves his “Parents speechless & in tears”
In the video posted on Youtube on Thursday and shared on Reddit, Joseph Riquelme sits between his mother and father. “I have one more gifts for you,” he says, pulling a small envelope from a sweatshirt pocket.
“For both of you.” His mother reads the note inside and her reaction is almost immediate as she begins laughing and crying at the same time. His father reads the note, wipes his eyes and then hugs his son.
It’s not the first time an Internet video has captured the joyous reaction of parents learning their house is paid off. In July, Youtube star Timothy DeLa Ghetto filmed his mother and father as he provided them with $210,000 to cover the balance on their home loan. The gift, he said, was making good on a promise he had made them when he was a kid, when he told them he would become successful and pay off their house.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Riquelme is a tech entrepreneur who has founded startup companies like Videoshop, a video editing app. As of midday Friday, his video had over 100,000 plays on Youtube.
A stunning Northern lights delight seen on Christmas Eve in Northumberland
An Aurora is seen on the horizon behind Bamburgh Lighthouse in Northumberland.
A stunning display of the Northern lights has been seen across parts of the UK with the dancing lights visible to the naked eye.
The spectacle was seen in the early hours of Christmas Eve, as colours of green and pink appeared in the sky. Known as the Aurora Borealis, the natural wonder is caused by charged particles colliding in the Earth’s atmosphere and is seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemisphere.
Photographers braved the cold to capture the pictures above near Bamburgh Castle, in Northumberland.
The lights are caused by electrons and protons which are hurled from the sun’s atmosphere and blown towards the Earth by the solar wind. Often these particles are deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field but as it is weaker at either pole, some enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles.
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