Monthly Archives: May 2019

There have been calls for decisive police action after shots were fired into the bedroom of three sleeping children in Larne as part of an ongoing feud. The BBC reported the children were aged 10, seven and three. Police said that around 1.50am on Monday two masked men with shotguns hijacked a Volkswagen Bora in the Craigy Hill area of the town. The car was then driven to a Brustin Brae Road house, where shots were fired at the property and the car was set alight. Press Eye Belfast – Northern Ireland 11th September 2017”The scene on the Brustin Brae Road outside Larne in Co. Antrim where shots were fired at a property along with a vehicle being set on fire in the early hours of Monday morning. ”Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com The children’s mother, Aislinn Hassin, told the BBC she blamed paramilitaries who were trying to harm her ex-husband, … Continue reading →

Elements of what the Department for the Economy proposes for RHI do not add up – and the department’s track record of incompetence makes that alarming. The department (then known as DETI) bungled the setting up of the scheme to an extent which is still jaw-dropping. Then, after the scandal had emerged to public fury, it rushed in legislation which amended the scheme in a way which it said brought it into line with the original policy intent. Now the department says that supposed temporary fix of the scheme was itself wildly over-generous and is proposing an entirely new approach. In the meantime, the department has been incapable of doing what to the person in the street would be the most obvious way to root out fraud – inspect every boiler. More than three years after the scheme closed, the department cannot even be certain that all of the boilers … Continue reading →

A total of 193 patients (60.5%) started treatment within the target 62 day period. (Rui Viera/PA) March 28 2019 Only 60% of cancer patients in Northern Ireland started their first treatment within the target time period, new figures have revealed. Statistics from the Department of Health (DoH) show in December 2018, 319 patients began their first treatment following an urgent referral by their GP. Of these, only 193 patients (60.5%) started treatment within the target 62 day period, compared with 66.8% the year before. There have been improvements for breast cancer patients awaiting a first assessment from a specialist, however. Of the 1,122 patients who received an assessment, 99.8% were seen withing the target time of 14 days – up from 80.8% in December 2017. A DoH spokesperson said that, while the improvements for breast cancer waiting times are welcome, cancer services “remain under pressure”. “When £30 million was allocated … Continue reading →

Unionists have slammed Sinn Fein’s John O’Dowd after he warned that a restored Stormont Executive would not bring about a “utopian society”. The Upper Bann MLA was quizzed on the Nolan Show about the absence of an Executive following the announcement that £70m in savings have to be made by Northern Ireland’s five health trusts. He said: “I am being realistic. No on should expect that even if the Executive is back up and running that we are going to have a utopian society and that all the problems of the health service will be resolved.” DUP MP Sammy Wilson said Mr O’Dowd comments displayed an “immature attitude” on the part of Sinn Fein and added: “It once again raises the question as to whether Sinn Fein sees any point in an Executive at all.” Disagreeing with Mr O’Dowd’s assessment that a functioning government could not help resolve the problems … Continue reading →

The £70m emergency cuts announced by the Health and Social Care Trusts will mean people waiting longer for treatments and people having to remain in hospitals for longer than they need to and therefore not allowing those beds to become available for other patients. Northern Ireland already has by far the worst waiting times anywhere in the UK, so these additional cuts will have a direct impact on the quality and safety of patient care. More lives will be lost, as local health officials themselves warn – spiralling waiting times can lead to severely delayed diagnoses of life threatening illnesses. Letter to the editor The shocking reality of 2017 is that for some of those people waiting, such as the 64,000 local outpatients waiting longer than a year for their first appointment with a consultant, some now have a reduced likelihood of a successful outcome as a result of the … Continue reading →