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A MENTAL HEALTH nurse who criticised the new psychiatric unit at Cork University Hospital has been placed off-duty indefinitely.
Des McSweeney, a Siptu shop steward, spoke to the media last month about his concerns over patient safety at the facility.
McSweeney said senior management told him he had breached the hospital’s communications policy.
However, the nurse told Morning Ireland today “the real reason” he has been suspended is because he highlighted certain issues.
“I have been gagged in some ways … this is the consequence of speaking up,” he said, claiming that management wanted to keep him and his colleagues from publicly voicing their concerns.
“There is an attempt very much to muzzle us.”
McSweeney said this has created an “intimidating” and “frightening” atmosphere as “some people don’t feel empowered to speak up”, particularly those on temporary contracts.
He wrote to Health Minister Leo Varadkar about the issue on 31 March. Varadkar, who was also on Morning Ireland, said McSweeney “may well have” written to him but he hasn’t seen the correspondence.
“When I know the facts, I’ll certainly give you a response,” the health minister said, adding: “I’ll certainly get it checked out.”
Waiting lists
When questioned about the fact the number of people waiting for medical appointments has passed 400,000 for the first time, Varadkar said this figure includes “people who are waiting one week and two weeks”.
He added that it was “definitely of concern” that about 77,000 people are waiting for more than a year, noting: “Every effort is made to see urgent cases much quicker than that.”
The HSE is working to ensure no one will have to wait more than 18 months by June, and 15 months by the end of 2015.
“I know those targets aren’t good by any means but they are achievable,” Varadkar stated.
In relation to the ongoing row being Hiqa and the HSE over a report into maternity care in Portlaoise Hospital, the health minister said: “I certainly don’t like to see state agencies in conflict and I definitely don’t believe they should be suing each other.”
Varadkar said the report is still in draft stage and he will make sure it is published “within a day or two” of when he receives the final version.
The Coombe is now overseeing maternity services at Portlaoise.
During the interview, Varadkar also described the agreement struck by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), the HSE and the Department of Health to ensure free health care for under 6s as “a very significant breakthrough”.
He said it is “the first step on the road to universal healthcare”, which will be introduced in the coming years.
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Pass that diving bell on sir john rogersons quay every day on the way too work and always wondered what it was! Explains the name of the street adjacent to it too. Good work Journal.ie. interesting little article.
you’d think the Dublin Council would stick a little sign post beside it with some info, I always wondered too. It’s quite interesting.
The diving bell was made in Grendons foundry in Drogheda where Scotch Hall shopping centre is now, right beside the Viaduct bridge mentioned in the caption. They were going to scrap it until protests from a group of conservationists forced Dublin County Council to restore it and display it where it is now.
I’ll tell you what’s a Dublin curiosity: The place is a complete dump.
The British gave the Irish their modern cities and as soon as they left, the Irish made a complete balls of the place. Out will the old Georgians and in with the concrete tat.
If you want to see a massive planning disaster on a monumental scale, go to Dublin.
The ugliest citiy in Europe just keeps getting uglier.
Think you are getting confused with Belfast, now that is a complete dump.
Dublin didn’t suffer years of bombings and terrorism, Mark.
Having said that, urban planning in Belfast is 100 times better than Dublin.
It takes people with appreciation and aesthetics for architecture to keep a city in shape – something people in Dublin lack in general.
Your right Dublin did not suffer years of terrorism like Belfast, it was just blown apart by the British army. Dublin is the biggest most beautiful Georgian city in the world. Sure it has got a few ugly buildings, what big city doesn’t. Im from London we have alot of ugly buildings. But i totally disagree with your comments. I visit Dublin many times and it has alot of beautiful architecture.
You must be blind then, Mark. The complete historical fabric of Dublin has been destroyed by corrupt councilors and developers over the past 50 years.
And you can’t expect the British army to just stand around while a bunch of yobs run riot.
When i said it was just blown apart by the British army, i was talking about Dublin, just before the Irish kicked them out. There has been some bad planning decisions in Dublin over the last 50 years i agree. But the city has some beautiful areas. The reason why the city gets millions of tourists every year. If you want to see very bad planning come to many english towns and cities we have alot of ugly ones unfortunately.
Belfast is nowhere near as nice as Dublin.
You’ve overlooked Glasgow in your assessment of Europe’s ugliest cities but then again it’s not really the point,you’re merely here to stick it to the Taigs.
Much of Georgian Dublin is still standing,i doubt you’ve ever set foot south of the border,let alone in Dublin.
When one has hatred for a place or people they tend to hate everything about the country and wish it was not there. It is a sad way to live a life. Dublin is a beautiful city just like London, both have there downsides what big city doesn’t. But as far as big cities go in the UK and Ireland they are the best we have. Even if a few disagree.
Nice article, love finding out about quirky things in cities. Also, sound for including an explanation on what a crows foot mark is…there is one on the stone gate into my house and although I guessed that it was something to do with measurements, I never really knew what it was for.
Work in that diving bell was horrific. The men suffered greatly health wise from the pressure . In fact it shortened there life considerably. Another fantastic sight to see was the Dublin dry docks in Dublin port the older of which was recently filled in to make space for containers. I had the pleasure to work in these docks and it is such a shame to see it filled in.
Now theres some really interesting things about Ireland that give an insight into history and link modern day
Those crow’s foot benchmarks are to be found all over Ireland. They were put on things like stone bridges or at the base of granite entrance piers. You could locate them from the OS Maps. A good number of them can still be found around the country.
Fantastic article.
Really enjoyed this thank you a nice way to start Sunday
Re Pic 7 – pity the lump of meteorite that fell in Tipperary in 1865 wasn’t a whole lot bigger.
Great article. St. Andrews Resource Centre has published a booklet explaining the full history of the diving bell: “Dublin’s Diving Bell – A History”. I’m not sure if it’s still available.
The Diving Bell on Sir John Rogersons Quay was actually saved by St. Andrews Resource Centre Pearse Street in Partnership with Dublin Port and others. The City Council were not involved and the space on the Quay was given by the DDDA. The whole project was written about in a book published by the St. Andrews Heritage Project in 2003. The book is available free from St. Andrews in Pearse Street and it gives the History of the Diving Bell and details of the the project to restore it. For more information on this fascinating piece of Irish and Dublin’s history contact:
Betty Ashe 01 6771930.
1st pic isn’t 51 Stephens green, that’s on Stephens green south, think it’d the dept of foreign affairs building.
Hi Barro – you’re absolutely right so I went and snapped a pic of number 51 on my way into work today to give people an idea of which building it is, should they happen to be passing by. It’s the last pic in the slideshow there now.
Cheers, Susan
This is a good answer to the lack of Dublin “discoverability” in the “Why does Dublin have no fountains” blog post at http://blog.likeplace.ie
You think? Fountains do not make cities. We have fountains in trafalgar square, they are off most of the year. What traveller wants to see the same in every city they visit. How boring. I like the way Dublin has the beautiful old georgian street lights. Then you travel to smithfield and you have something completely different, funky and arty, something you would see in new york. Thats what is great about Dublin and its districts. Many european cities especially along the med are very similar. I like difference, unique. Not boring and mirror image of somewhere else.
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