These past few weeks have seen huge upheaval in the Irish health system. Some of the top people have departed, or are going soon. The first big shocker is the decision of the head of the Health Service Executive, Paul Reid to leave. He is only in the job three years and on a salary…

While virtually all Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted for some months now in Ireland, hospital case numbers have been rising recently. As of now, there are over 700 people with Covid-19 in hospital beds out of around 12,000 acute hospital beds in the whole system. The number infected in hospitals is expected to rise further….

There is more bad news on hospital waiting lists. The latest figures just released for May show a further rise in the overall Irish public hospital service lists which now stand at over 851,700 people. That’s a rise of over 1,700 on the April figures. The biggest list is to be seen by a consultant…

Just what Ireland’s health service needed. Another strategy plan. You have been waiting for it, haven’t you, and yes here it is at last. The Sláintecare Action Plan 2022, just published by the Department of Health in Ireland. This is the latest update on the health reform programme that promises a better public health service for all,…

A perfect storm appears to be brewing in Ireland in the health system, which is having perhaps its greatest impact on hospital waiting lists. New figures released by the Health Service Executive (HSE) for a written question in the Dail (Irish Parliament) show that in April over 14,000 hospital appointments were cancelled. The figures for…

Making sure your paperwork is all in order for your healthcare abroad is important. Healthcare Abroad will assist and guide you through the process to make sure everything is in order for the HSE to approve your surgery now. There are rules about accessing care under the cross border directive and the HSE will need…

Where you live in Ireland can be something of a postcode lottery when it comes to health. The bigger cities are well served with major hospitals but they also have big waiting lists too, due to the size of the surrounding population. Elsewhere in the country, there is a shortage of specialists or services meaning…

Why is it that in Ireland, there are such massive problems and delays in building new public hospital projects? There has been no new major acute hospital built in Ireland in over 30 years, if one excludes the €75 m Cork University Maternity Hospital which opened in 2007. Before that, the last new acute hospital…

While the Covid-19 pandemic has receded and life has returned mostly to normal, it has left a lasting legacy. A big part of that legacy is of course the impact on the Irish health system and even longer public hospital waiting lists. Before the pandemic, in February 2020, hospital waiting lists in Ireland were at…

New public hospital waiting lists have just been released for Ireland and wait for it – the number of people on waiting lists fell by over 200 last month. You read it here first. Yes, that’s right 200. What an achievement! The April waiting lists from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show there are 850,109…