There is an outbreak of measles in Europe, in particular in France and Spain. Normally children get their first MMR vaccination at 12 months old. The HSE are advising that children who will be travelling to Europe receive an early dose of the MMR vaccine in order to reduce the risk of contracting measles on their travels. The normal vaccine schedule is continued from 12 months of age.
The HSE, Asthma Society of Ireland and COPD Support Ireland today commence a new joint Adviceline service for people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Asthma and COPD are two of the largest chronic diseases in Ireland with 850,000 people living with either asthma or COPD. While the Asthma Society has been operating an Asthma Adviceline for over 25 years, this new expanded service meets the needs of an increasing population with COPD.
The expanded Adviceline service is a collaboration between the Asthma Society of Ireland (ASI), COPD Support Ireland and the Health Service Executive. The COPD Adviceline is available at 1800 83 21 46 and the Asthma Adviceline is available at 1800 44 54 64. Callers can avail of the service by calling the free phone number between 09:00 and 17:00 Monday to Friday. A call back appointment with an experienced respiratory nurse specialist will be scheduled for a time and day that suits each individual caller.
Respiratory illness can be complex and the advice and support offered by a specialist nurse can inspire confidence in the message of self management and reassure callers or families of people living with these lifelong chronic conditions. The nurses working on the Adviceline have a great knowledge of asthma and COPD as well as significant clinical experience of caring for these patients, giving them an insight into the challenges faced by patients in terms of managing their asthma or COPD. They are uniquely placed to offer information and support to this group. As part of this new expanded service, nurses will be available for more hours each week to speak to callers. The new joint service will:
Patient education tools, resources and booklets will be made available to patients along with the adviceline support to ensure that patients are best informed and supported in managing their condition.
Pheena Kenny, Head of Health Promotion with the Asthma Society of Ireland said: “Having recently received accreditation for our Asthma Adviceline we are delighted to be expanding the service to meet the needs of even more people with chronic respiratory conditions. While asthma and COPD are lifelong conditions, they can be managed and the Adviceline nurses play a key role in empowering people to understand how to manage their condition through the provision of 1-1 tailored information and support. Our nurses are expert in the areas of asthma and COPD and they can make follow-up calls to people as necessary. We encourage people with asthma and or COPD to make use of this free and valuable service’.
Damien Peelo, Executive Director, COPD Support Ireland, believes that implementing this Adviceline service will be crucial to improving the lives of people living with COPD:
“At COPD Support Ireland our focus is on maintaining people’s health for longer, through early diagnosis, by keeping people out of acute hospitals through our support and self-management programmes. It has been clear to us for some time that people living with COPD need access to expertise at the end of a phone, as COPD can be a frightening diagnoses to get and learning to live with a live long chronic illness requires ongoing support and advice. We are delighted to collaborate with the Asthma Society of Ireland on the development of this service, as they have a proven track record in running an adviceline to the highest standard. As a relatively new organisation, this is incredibly exciting to offer people living with COPD such a vital service.”
Commenting on the launch of the joint service - Brian Murphy, Head of Planning, Performance and Programme Management in the Primary Care Division of the HSE said:
“The HSE is delighted to support this initiative which will offer tailored support and advice to people living with asthma and COPD. The HSE has worked closely with the Asthma Society of Ireland and COPD Support Ireland to develop this collaborative service which works in tandem with other health services which patients access. I believe the new service is a great example of the added benefit that the charity and voluntary sector can bring by working in partnership with each other and the broader health service. We will continue to work closely with patients, the Asthma Society of Ireland and COPD Support Ireland to make sure that the service is most effective.”
Sligo University Hospital have changed their antenatal care schedule to offer an early dating scan around 12 weeks as well as the standard anomaly scan around 20 weeks. In order to arrange this 12 week scan, I would request that any pregnant mothers attend the practice no later than 8 weeks gestation (instead of 10 weeks) in order to have their routine bloods taken and to be referred for this earlier scan appointment.
For children born after October 1st 2016, Meningitis B and Rotavirus are now part of the routine vaccination program. A copy of the new schedule is detailed below.
These are very important vaccines to avail of and I encourage all parents to ensure they are received in a timely fashion.
Of note, liquid paracetamol (Calpol) should be given prior to and after the meningitis B vaccination. Each parent must have a bottle of calpol and bring this to the appointment or the vaccination may not be issued.
Flu vaccine now available. It is recommended on an annual basis for patients over 65 and those with certain medical conditions (see list below). Please feel free to book in with one of the doctors or with Mairead our nurse to avail of this service.
Vaccination is strongly recommended for:
The cervical cancer vaccine (gardasil) can prevent 70% of cervical cancers. Cervical cancer is a serious condition. Over 300 cases were diagnosed in Ireland in 2010. While the cervical screening program can pick up abnormal cells, hopefully at an early stage, as with most things, prevention is better than cure. The HPV vaccine is the only realistic way to prevent cervical cancer effectively.
HPV is a virus which causes warts, particularly genital warts. There are two subtypes, HPV 16 and 18, which are strongly linked with the development of cervical cancer. The vaccine is effective at preventing it and in countries such as Australia where vaccine uptake is high, a 75% reduction in the number of cases of cervical abnormalities has been achieved. Many young lives have been saved.
While overall the vaccine is safe, typical side effects include:
1 in 10: Pain, redness and swelling at the injection site with possibly headache. Lightheadedness.
1 in 100: Nausea, arm pain, fever
1 in 10,000: Itchy rash
1 in 1,000,000: Marked allergic reaction
There has been some controversy in Ireland over the HPV vaccine with allegations of side effects such as chronic fatigue syndrome. Unfortunately chronic fatigue syndrome in teenage girls is common, affecting about 0.3% of the population. It is inevitable that some of this 0.3% will have had the vaccine. It is understandable that when an incompletely understood illness such as chronic fatigue syndrome develops that people look for a specific event or medication to blame it on. However, that does not mean that the cause of their condition is the vaccine. In fact, there has been no increase in incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome since the vaccine's introduction and there is no rational theoretical or proven association between the two issues.
While everyone has autonomy over there own health issues, and such cases can seem quite scary when seen on TV, it is important that such a decision is based on the real facts of the situation.
You may or may not be aware that you can claim tax relief on medical expenses at the standard rate of 20%. This includes fees paid for GP services including consultations, bloods, minor surgery etc. You can claim this at the end of a given tax year and for up to four years in arrears. Over time this may result in a significant annual saving. We can assist you by providing a receipt at the end of the tax year itemising all payments if so required. You can then fill in this form and submit it to revenue.
Of note, nursing home fees receive the highest rate of tax relief, which may be up to 40% depending on your income.
As of 17/5/16, 48 hours notice will be required for all non-urgent repeat prescriptions. In addition, prescriptions will generally be issued for 3 or 6 months rather than 1 month. Routine repeat prescriptions will be generally managed through the secretary rather than during consultations.
The reason I am making this change is to improve patient safety. Repeat prescribing is not a matter of simply signing the script. Drugs and dosages have to be checked to ensure they are appropriate and safe. Many drugs require regular monitoring of a patient's clinical status, bloods tests and / or ECGs. It takes time to carefully do this for each script and it is not in the patient's interest that this is done in short notice without proper attention being paid to it.
This work is time consuming and takes concentration. It is safer to be all done in one batch rather than at repeated intervals during the day.
In addition, having to assess the same script on a monthly basis results in some of this work being done more than is necessary. Issuing 3-6 month scripts as standard means there is less duplication of this work and I have more time to ensure each script is accurate, which is in the best interests of all concerned.
Thank you for your understanding. I appreciate this is somewhat less convenient than the ad hoc practice up to now but I hope you will appreciate the reason for the change.
I am delighted to inform patients that I am now in a position to offer this important service for free to GMS patients for the first time.
High blood pressure, in the long term, causes an increased risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney disease and many other conditions. At the same time, some people have low blood pressure which can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, lightheadedness and headache, and can often go unrecognised.
The blood pressure varies from minute to minute depending on what one is doing. Because of this, taking a single blood pressure reading in the clinic can often give misleading results. This can result in patients with real blood pressure problems going unrecognised and under-treated. Equally, some people can be falsely diagnosed with hypertension and end up on potentially harmful medications that they do not require.
To address these shortcomings, it is being increasingly recognised that the most reliable way to assess blood pressure accurately is the use of a 24 hour blood pressure monitor. This is a small device which is relatively unobtrusive in use.
It is the best way to make an initial diagnosis or high (or low) blood pressure. It is also the best way to assess those who are already on treatment, and ideally should be performed on an annual basis.
We can now provide this useful service to our patients in Drumkeeran. Please speak with us to enquire about availability. There is a charge of 50 euro for private patients for the use of the device, the interpretation of the results and the implementation of any medication changes.
1. A generic medicine on an interchangeable list meets the same standards of quality and safety as the original branded medicine.
2. Generic medicines have the same active ingredient as the original branded medicine.
3. As the generic version acts in the same way in the body, it is nearly always interchangeable with the original product. In other words, you can usually use either the original or the generic medicine to achieve the same effect or benefit.
4. Generic versions of a medicines may have a different colour, flavour or be a different shape, size or come in a different box, packet or bottle. However, none of these differences affect the way the medicine works.
5. Generic medicines can save money for patients and the health service. Generic medicines usually cost less than the original branded product. This is because manufacturers do not need to invest as much money in research, development and marketing as they would if they were producing an original medicine from scratch.
6. More and more people are using generic medicines in Ireland. For example, about 68% of all people taking atorvastatin, the first medicine affected by this new law, were already using a generic product when a reference price was implemented for this medicine.
7. When a pharmaceutical company develops a new original medicine, it takes out a patent. The new medicine usually has a unique name or brand. When a patent's time period ends, other pharmaceutical companies can make a similar version - a generic - of the original medicine.
8. The regulatory authority, the Irish Medicines Board (IMB), monitors the safety of medicines available in Ireland. The IMB aims to make sure that all medicines on the Irish market are safe, effective and high quality.
9. Generic medicines, like original medicines, must go through a number of checks to be sold in Ireland.
10. Generic medicines are more affordable for the HSE's drugs bills, which allows further investment in other healthcare priorities, and promotes innovation in the development of new medicines.
11. Should you wish to choose a more expensive branded form of the same medication, you are entitled to do so but must pay the price difference.
Available privately since 2013, from September 2016 the vaccine for Meningitis B, Bexsero, will be part of the childhood vaccination schedule. Exactly which ages will be targeted and whether there will be a catch up program for unvaccinated children is yet to be determined.
Further information can be obtained on the following website: http://www.meningitis.org/menb-ireland
Dr. Cassie McVeigh is an experienced GP starting regular sessions in Drumkeeran. She went to Trinity and UCD and undertook her GP specialist training in Sligo. She has a special interest in women's health issues in particular. She will be consulting every Friday and also on other days from time to time.
