Siptu is planning a 48 hour all out strike action in seven Dublin hospitals on 7 April. At the centre of this industrial action is ‘outsourcing’. Outsourcing is the jargon used to describe the privatising of services which have been traditionally carried out by public sector workers. The workers involved in this action are ‘support staff grades’, i.e. anybody who does not do clinical care work in a hospital including porters, caterers, cleaners, security, care assistants and their supervisors. These are the lowest paid staff in the health service. This industrial action is in relation to the potential privatisation of these services and possible loss or down grading of these 4,500 jobs.

The action is led by SIPTU who represent 4,500 workers in what are known as the Dublin Area Teaching Hospitals (DATs). These are St. James, St. Vincents, Blanchardstown, the Mater, Beaumont, Tallaght and St. Colmcille’s hospitals. Nationally about 25,000 workers are in such roles.

The Joint Committee on Education and Science met today in Leinster House to discuss the effects of reductions in the number of teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). Chaired by Green Party TD Paul Gogarty, there were calls for the reversal of recent cuts to SNAs by principals of both special needs schools and mainstream schools.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) finds itself in the midst of another scandal tonight following revelations that approximately 58,000 x-rays taken in Tallaght hospital were never reviewed by a consultant radiologist.

This follows on from controversies regarding the deaths of children in HSE care and consistent failures to properly vet prospective foster parents, particularly in the Dublin and Cork regions.

The primary care strategy of the Health Service Executive (HSE) is admirable in its ambition, but experience on the ground shows that those ambitions are a long way from being reached writes Sara Burke.

Over eight years on from the launch of the primary care strategy, there are 222 teams in place. 90-95 per cent of health care needs can be met by them and they are Brendan Drumm’s pet project. So what do these teams actually do? Do they really exist? And how widespread are they?

Tackling the problems of a lack of political will and coordination across government departments is critical in the fight for a respectable mental health system in Ireland, according to Amnesty Ireland.

Amnesty Ireland (AI) held a press conference yesterday on the fourth anniversary of the Government’s mental health policy, 'A Vision for Change'. Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of AI, said:  “Four years after the publication of A Vision for Change, hope has turned to disillusionment. By its own admission, the Government has not brought about the changes necessary to deliver a modern mental health service. This has happened in part because mental health is not given the priority it deserves. We urgently need a renewed political commitment to mental health from all parties.”

Two and a half weeks ago, amidst the media frenzy of George Lee’s resignation, the HSE Service Plan was published. The HSE Service Plan is the HSE’s most important publication of the year, as it is the contract between the HSE and the government which details the type and volume of service the HSE will provide in the year ahead within the budget it is allocated by government. 

It is the fifth HSE Service Plan and, significantly, the last one with Brendan Drumm at helm. In short, it details a €1bn budget cut, fewer staff and fewer hospital beds. Delivering all its promises in such a constrained environment will be difficult, if not impossible.

Despite over 15 years of policies and strategies on how to reduce our alcohol intake as a nation, our problematic alcohol use continues.  30 January 2010 was the closing date for public submissions to another government initiative to develop alcohol policies as part of a new overall National Substance Misuse Strategy. There have been a series of national policies on both alcohol and illicit/illegal drugs, but until now they have been separate. What is significant about this is for the first time alcohol is being named as a drug and included in a new drugs strategy – contrary to the wishes of the drinks’ industry.  

In Obama’s State of the Union address, the president acknowledged mistakes made in his first 12 months in office and pledged to persist with health insurance reform. So where has Obama got to with his health reforms and how has his promise of universal health insurance coverage changed and diminished?

“After nearly a century of trying — Democratic administrations, Republican administrations — we are closer than ever to bringing more security to the lives of so many Americans. The approach we’ve taken would protect every American from the worst practices of the insurance industry. It would give small businesses and uninsured Americans a chance to choose an affordable health care plan in a competitive market”.