Irish journal of medical science
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The commonest reason for admissions to hospital in Ireland annually for patients with a neurological condition is due to convulsions/epilepsy and their care is often managed by Internal Medicine physicians. ⋯ Access to expert neurology review in a Model Three hospital in Ireland not only improved the provision of safe, timely, and equitable care but also significantly reduced the LOS for patients admitted with seizures.
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COVID-19 infection led to a substantial overhaul of the symptomatic breast services within the UK. ⋯ Most patients were referred from GP as 'urgent' or 'urgent suspected cancer'. The cancer diagnosis rate reduced from 7 to 5% during the pandemic peak but the number of 'worried well' patients did not reduce. The total number of referrals reduced, which is predictive of increased demand in the future. The authors have suggested ways to meet this demand.
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The management of hypertension is primarily performed in primary care settings in many health systems. However, two groups of patients often require specialist input: patients with resistant hypertension (RH) and young adults with hypertension. ⋯ This contemporary study highlights the high prevalence of obesity among RH patients and young adults with hypertension. Findings suggest that programs to combat hypertension must include interventions to address obesity.
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Prolonged waiting lists increase costs as medical problems may become more expensive to fix. There are also hidden financial costs. Irish Clinical Genetic services have long out-patient waiting times. We noticed duplicate referrals (patients on the waiting list) being re-referred because the patient still had not been seen. These re-referrals waste consultant and administrative time, pose a clinical risk by distracting clinician time, and are costly to our health service. ⋯ National Treatment Purchase Fund data suggests that 271,560 patients are waiting > 12 months for both in- and out-patient public appointments on 1 January 2021. Assuming duplicate referrals are occurring across the Irish health system with equal frequency after 12 months of waiting (8% of total appointments), then we estimate a conservative cost of 757,392 € per quarter to the health service and an annual cost to the HSE of 3,029,568 €.
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In December 2019, an outbreak of novel corona virus pneumonia occurred in Wuhan City, China, and spread throughout the whole of country in a short period. Figures from China's National Health Commission show that more than 3300 health care workers have been infected as of early March. In Italy, 20% of responding health care professionals was infected, and some have died. Health care professionals are exposed to different types of stress both physical and psychological in response to this serious infectious public health event. ⋯ The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most stressful events that a health care worker may face during his life time. Most of the participants in the survey developed a moderate degree of stress.