Latest News from the Northside People http://www.dublinpeople.com 2008-05-13T08:30:13+01:00 text/html 2008-05-08T15:02:59+01:00 http://www.dublinpeople.com http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/518/57/ PATIENTS availing of a very successful home help service on the Northside say they are shocked and angry at plans to have it scrapped. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed that it is to alter the Hospital in the Home scheme, which has allowed vulnerable patients at Beaumont Hospital receive vital medical care at home. Patients on the scheme have said this would be a disaster, as it was proving extremely successful at freeing up beds at the hospital and minimising their risk of infection by being treated in their own homes. The Hospital in the Home scheme allows trained nurses to visit patients’ homes on a daily basis to administer medication and monitor their health. Aidan O’Toole, from Ardbeg, Artane, told Northside People the scheme had helped him to make an excellent recovery from surgery to remove a tumour. Mr O’Toole (39) said he had to spend three weeks at Beaumont Hospital in January to receive his treatment. text/html 2008-05-08T14:59:23+01:00 http://www.dublinpeople.com http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/517/57/ Women attending the Coombe Women’s Hospital in Dublin 8 to receive cervical smear testing were outraged to find the vital service has been discontinued. One woman from Drimnagh, Phyllis McHugh (58), who had been seen at the unit following a cervical cancer scare, was shocked to be told patients will no longer receive smear tests at the hospital due to a lack of staff. The current gap in services left by the closure of the unit could have dangerous consequences for young women at risk of cervical cancer, she explained. “Its not a busy clinic but it provides vital services to a lot of locals and young girls who will now have to go elsewhere,” she said. “If you don’t have a medical card then you will have to pay for a test at a doctors’ surgery or a clinic. This is something you have to get done so the current situation is quite dangerous.” Phyllis believes that the service proved invaluable when she had a scare with cervical cancer. “When you get a pain it is already too late,” she explained. “I was really lucky that I went for a check so early. I wouldn’t be sitting here today if I hadn’t. This is an essential service.” text/html 2008-05-08T14:57:14+01:00 http://www.dublinpeople.com http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/516/57/ A POPULAR Northside boxing club that came close to closing down has received a last minute reprieve. As reported in Northside People last week, Baldoyle Boxing Club feared it would have to close down due to the fact it could not make full use of its boxing ring. However, thanks to the generosity of a local publican, the successful club has been offered new training premises and will have its boxers back in the ring by August. Christy Taylor, owner of the Racecourse Inn in Baldoyle, has decided to clear out an upstairs snooker room at the pub to make way for the boxing club’s ring. Ned Hendricks, head coach of Baldoyle Boxing Club, told Northside People he was delighted with the news. “It is a very generous offer by Mr Taylor to offer us his premises and our boxers are looking forward to being able to continue their training,” Mr Hendricks said. text/html 2008-05-08T14:54:36+01:00 http://www.dublinpeople.com http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/515/57/ The single mother of a 16-year-old who suffers from Downs Syndrome has slammed the HSE for failing to provide her daughter with speech and language therapy, which has left her virtually unable to communicate with other people. Leslie McCabe lives with her mother Geraldine in Jobstown, Tallaght. Apart from a brief six week group session, she has not had access to regular speech therapy. Ms McCabe, who is a lone parent, told Southside People that Leslie badly needs appropriate access to intensive one-to-one speech and language therapy. Leslie attends special education at St John of God's in Islandbridge. Ms McCabe claimed she has continuously contacted the school that Leslie has attended since 2006 in an attempt to secure therapy for her daughter. “Every three or four weeks I rang the school and asked them when Leslie would be getting speech therapy and the answer is that they don’t know,” Ms McCabe said. “I am still doing that.” text/html 2008-04-29T20:39:40+01:00 http://www.dublinpeople.com http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/491/57/ A DEVASTATED Northside mother has revealed the heartache she has endured since her son went missing eight months ago. Distraught Marie McCarthy, from Grangemore Grove, Donaghmede, is appealing to the public for help in tracing her son Paul (30), who she has not seen since last August. Despite a concerted effort by her family to find Paul, concerned Marie told Northside People she is now beginning to fear the worst for her son. She said her pain is added to by the fact that Paul has a five-year-old daughter who doesn’t yet realise her Daddy is missing. Paul, who left home at the age of 18, had been living out of hostels in the city centre in the months leading up to his disappearance. “Paul was last spotted by the gardai in the city centre in either the first or second week of September, but since then there have been absolutely no sightings of him,” Marie said. text/html 2008-04-29T20:35:46+01:00 http://www.dublinpeople.com http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/490/57/ The Health Service Executive (HSE) is to issue legal proceedings in the form of an injunction if pharmacists in Dublin do not provide assurances that they will fulfil their contractual obligations in relation to the medical card and community drugs schemes. The threat of legal proceedings comes after some pharmacists declared their intention to withdraw their services from the schemes from this week. According to the HSE, each pharmacist is required to provide the health authority with three months’ notice if they wish to terminate their contract. The purpose of this contractual provision is to ensure a reasonable timeframe to allow for alternative and appropriate services to be put in place in a safe manner, they state.