News Opinion

MICHAEL WOLSEY: Some good news, just for a change

By Kilkenny Now 1st January 2020 0

You would never guess from the Irish media in general, but we have a lot to be happy about this new year. For one thing, we are living longer. On average, an Irish man can now hope to live until he is a little over 80 and a woman until she is 84. That’s an […]

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Have a heart, Taoiseach! Local cardiac campaigners deliver powerful message to Leo

By Colin Bartley 3rd December 2019 0

Cardiac care campaigners from Kilkenny and across the South East have delivered a petition with 5,000 signatures to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s office in Dublin. The signatures were collected in October following the high profile Hand On Heart campaign organised by the Health Equality For the South East (HEFSE) group. HEFSE is demanding that the Government […]

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3,000 respite bed nights taken out of service in Kilkenny in just three years

By Kilkenny Now 7th October 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY CLOSE to 3,000 bed nights, used to care for people with disabilities while their live-in carers take a break, have been taken out of service in Kilkenny and Carlow over the space of three years. The most recent figures received for 2019 shows no let-up in the decline in respite nights. New […]

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South East’s Cath Lab to close for 12 weeks

By Kilkenny Now 1st August 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY THE ONLY permanent Cath Lab in the South East region is to close down for 12 weeks. University Hospital Waterford’s Cath Lab will close to facilitate maintenance work and equipment upgrade. It is believed the modular lab in UHW’s campus will be open three to five days a week while work is […]

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Health board for South East could return to Kilkenny, Government plans to curb HSE’s powers

By Kilkenny Now 16th July 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY WHO remembers the South Eastern Health Board or Bord Slainte an Oir-Dheiscirt? It could be set to make a comeback. It’s reported Minister for Health Simon Harris will recommend to Cabinet this week, the largest restructuring of Ireland’s health services since the creation of Health Service Executive (HSE) in 2005. The plan […]

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CervicalCheck scandal: top health officials knew of lab fiasco six months ago

By Kilkenny Now 12th July 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY OFFICIALS in the Department of Health knew about the computer issues in a US lab since February, which left hundreds of women without the results of their cervical screenings. It emerged today that CervicalCheck knew of the computer glitch in February. Officials thought the lab in the US conducting the screening was […]

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MENINGITIS WARNING: Vaccination targets way off in Kilkenny

By Kilkenny Now 12th July 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY UPTAKE of the Meningococcal C (‘MenC’) vaccine for Kilkenny children under the age of 24-months is falling well short of national targets, new figures reveal. The 86% uptake for the immunisation of MenC is nearly 10 points below the national target of 95% set by the Department of Health. The figures come […]

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Kilkenny schoolkids to be given new meningitis vaccine in September

By Kilkenny Now 3rd July 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY KILKENNY children starting secondary school in September will be offered a new meningitis vaccine targeting strains of the disease that have become more common recently. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) announced it is providing the MenACWY – which protects against meningococcal C and other types of meningococcal disease W and Y […]

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Hundreds of Kilkenny people to lose medical card benefits this year

By Kilkenny Now 27th June 2019 0

MEDICAL card holders in Kilkenny have been warned they could lose the benefit before the end of the year due to falling unemployment. Up to 27,000 people in Kilkenny city and county are currently eligible for medical cards, according to figures released by the Department of Health this week. However, a new report by the […]

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Strike action at St Luke’s Hospital called off to allow for ’emergency talks’

By Kilkenny Now 19th June 2019 0

By COLIN BARTLEY THE planned strike at St Luke’s General Hospital tomorrow morning was dramatically called off tonight. The action, which would have severely curtailed local hospital services, was deferred to allow for emergency talks following an 11th-hour breakthrough in negotiations. More than 150 staff support workers, including porters, cleaners, healthcare