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GOOD WEATHER AND low levels of flu are keeping pressure off the health system, but that’s expected to change in the coming weeks.
The HSE Winter Plan Oversight Group, which met today, is warning that while hospitals have remained “very busy”, with increased patient attendances and admissions, there has been decrease in trolley waiting times compared to last year and, in the run up to Christmas, a sharp fall in delayed discharges.
Demand for the GP out-of-hours service remains high and similar to last year.
Last year was an ‘exceptional’ year for flu, a HSE spokesperson said, with high rates of hospitalisation, and the indications are currently positive for this year.
The rate of admissions for flu is still expected to increase in the coming weeks.
This is combined with presentations of older people to emergency departments, managing patients with chronic conditions, trauma, winter vomiting and severe winter weather, resulting in a predictably busy period for hospitals.
Taosieach says Irish hospitals are in a much better place than they were last year pic.twitter.com/fXlUAeIjAs
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) December 28, 2018
Can’t watch the video? Click here.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Minister for Health Simon Harris stressed that it’s not too late for public to get the flu vaccine.
He noted that the initial figures on the number of health service staff getting the vaccine looked promising, and that an increase on last year is likely.
Harris added that it’s important over the busy period to “keep emergency departments for emergencies”, and for the public to use the appropriate service for their illness or injury, be it a GP service, primary care centre, minor units injury etc:
The best way you or I, as a citizen, can help our frontline staff, is by using those services appropriately.
Some of these frontline staff took to social media over the Christmas period to remind Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that they’re working unsociable hours during the holidays with the #WeAreWorking hashtag.
In November, the Taoiseach suggested that consultants should not take holidays in the first week of the year, particularly those who work in emergency departments, and that nurses should not take leave in the first two weeks of January.
“I appreciate that a lot of people have been working very hard in the health service across the Christmas period,” he told reporters, “I was there myself in the emergency department of the CUH on Christmas Day, and I visited Crumlin on Christmas Eve.
I have no doubt that a huge number of people were and are working very hard in our health service over the Christmas period in our health service. Our job is to make sure the whole system is working, for them and also for patients, that’s why we’re here today.
More advice on attending health services over the busy winter period is available here.
Additional reporting by Christina Finn
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Good stuff. I’m a bit of a freak when it comes to germs.
I can’t touch the door handles in public toilets without a tissue in my hand. Saw too many lads zip it up and ignore the sink. Arm rests and table trays on airplanes the same them things are turned around so many times a day without cleaning.
@Milk The Drones: Urine is sterile. There are probably more germs on the tissue you are using.
@CrabaRev: absolutely true, unless you have a UTI your urine is totally sterile.
@CrabaRev:
I’ll do it my way and take my chances thanks.
@CrabaRev: Still wouldn`t use it for mouthwash though in fairness
@Pixie McMullen:
Also TV remotes in hotel rooms are another thing I can’t deal with. Think of all the previous digits that mauled it and what they were up to before you checked in. Brutal.
@Milk The Drones: I can totally understand your OCD and overthinking of things mate, but fact is, there are germs absolutely everywhere, everything you touch in the outside world.
But what might help you, would be to carry a mini pack of disinfectant/surgical wipes for when it gets too much – at least you might have some control over your fears, best of luck with it.
While there’s no question that cleanliness is important in places like hospitals and kitchens, I don’t think anyone would be comfortable eating food prepared in a dirty kitchen or being operated upon in a dirty, smelly operating theatre.
So if Ellie Cunnenn can identify surfaces that can resist the growth of bacteria and those that stay clean longest, maybe it’ll be possible to come up with a combination of the two, a surface that’ll both resist bacteria and stay clean as long as possible. And fair play to her, she deserves recognition for this.
However there have been studies in Ireland and other countries that have illustrated that we also need a limited exposure to a small amount of, an Irishism, what our grannies may have called clean dirt. These studies have revealed that children who grow up on dairy farms are less likely to develop allergies such as asthma or hay fever, this is because children who grow up on farms breathe air containing bacterial components which reduces the immune systems reaction to allergens.
The studies identified the presence of a protein (A20) which affects these cells and the way in which they react to an allergen.
According to the research, the A20 protein does not affect the immune system, but it instead affects the structural cells that make up the lining of the lung. To validate the experiment, the group of scientists induced dust mite allergies in mice and found that those were exposed to dust from a dairy farm in early life were immune. The next step of the experiment was to knock out the action of the A20 protein in the lungs of the mice and when this occurred the mice were no longer protected from allergic reactions.
And so, they carried out a further study on 2,000 children who grew up on farms.
They found that those who suffered from allergies had a gene mutation which affected the A20 protein, causing it to malfunction and suffer from allergies such as hay fever and asthma.
It goes against everything we’ve been told to believe, but when our young immune system is developing it needs exposure to a certain amount of “clean dirt”. If we’re raised in a sterile environment, which is increasingly happening, our developing immune systems have no opportunity to recognise it and react to it.
somebody is trying to do something WoW great story??
@Leitrim303: Congrats on your first smart phone for Christmas….long may it last
Anti-bacterial surface, might be worth adding this to your list of test surfaces Ellie
Anti-bacterial surface, might be worth adding this to your list of test surfaces Ellie
The surface chemistry and roughness are probably the two most important factors here. Smoother surfaces have less anchor points for biofilms to develop, so granite isn’t a surprise as it’s usually polished when produced. The cleaning history is also important as any infection control staff will tell you.
There are plenty of studies out there and also a European Action group called AMICI that Ireland is part of.
Happy to help if author(s) want to PM
have your say