Life laughs at our attempts to eliminate risk.
Home care withdrawn due to staff shortage
When I was small, one of the most exciting events of the year was going to the Fleadh Cheoil with my dad, Séamus. Thousands of people thronged the streets in Buncrana or Listowel or Kilkenny during those golden, halcyon days of traditional music, and most of them seemed to know him. It would take an […]
New research has revealed that Irish farmers are 7 times more likely to die from heart disease than people in other professions. Additionally, it is now believed that almost half suffer from high blood pressure and cholesterol. The findings were reported recently at the annual conference of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, and revealed […]
The car has left the highway. We are close to our house. Using our mobile phone, we send a message; the porch and entrance lights come on and the heating starts up so that when we arrive the temperature is adequate, which the device itself has learned is the one we prefer. The house is […]
Tasmania, Australia’s smallest state, like many other jurisdictions, is currently considering legalising voluntary assisted dying (VAD). It is of great concern that legislators are seeking to incorporate this into palliative and medical care. Voluntary assisted dying sounds like a description of what should be occurring in normal medical practice: clinicians recognising those who are dying […]
Women have achieved equal numbers in the workforce over the past 50 years but research shows that, collectively, they are far from contented. What is missing from our work culture? The answer, suggests Peruvian academic María Pia Chirinos in a paper delivered at a recent conference of the London-based Home Renaissance Foundation, is relationships based on […]
Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan has said that she has written to the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe asking him to urgently investigate the lack of insurance options for nursing homes who operate with a capacity of less than 40 beds. Deputy Nolan said that unless the matter is dealt with quickly and […]
“Given there is already huge unmet need for formal care in this country, it is staggering to think about the sky-high level of demand that will be placed on our care system and unpaid carers in the next 25 years if urgent action isn’t taken by the Government.” The United Kingdom is worryingly unprepared for […]
A GP surgery in South Wales is apologising for asking some patients ‘to complete a “do not resuscitate” form in case their conditions deteriorated due to coronavirus’; the letter from Llynfi Surgery in Maesteg ‘said that indicating they would not want to be resuscitated had “several benefits”’, informing them that ‘people with life-limiting illnesses who […]
Our family were at a wedding a few months ago and a friend pointed out how loving and inclusive our children were with each other, and how they were so protective of their brother, Fiach. Although I brushed off the compliment it made me brim up with pride. She was right, my kids are fantastic […]
Twenty years ago, the Catholic bioethicists of Australia came together to write the first ever Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and Aged Care Services in Australia. Two years of robust discussion, informed by wide consultation, followed by even more robust discussion resulted in a set of guidelines which have stood the test of time. […]