Blog

Confidentiality can be breached to protect the life of the patient or others. This article by Patricia Casey was published on the Irish Times on July 4th.   The issue of doctor-patient confidentiality is perhaps at its most polarised in the context of suicide prevention. When it was addressed recently in a session at the […]

Alcohol Health Alliance Ireland says Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Prof. Geoffrey Shannon’s comments to an Oireachtas Committee makes a strong case for the need for the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill Prof Shannon appeared yesterday, Wednesday, 28th June, before the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs to discuss issues arising from the Audit of […]

This letter was published in the Irish Times on Thursday, Jun 29, 2017 Sir, – As the parent of a child with complex developmental needs, I was moved by “Laura’s story”, a mother who tries to convince her 10-year-old son every day that life is worth living (“‘My 10-year-old son wants to be dead. Nobody will help […]

Applications for the Irish Healthcare Awards 2017 close on June 30th Hosted by Irish Medical Times and its publisher MPI Media, the Irish Healthcare Awards celebrate innovation, excellence and achievement in the Irish health system and recognise projects and individuals that have made a positive contribution to patient care. Now in their 16th year, this […]

Alcohol and a society in denial This letter was published in the Irish Times on Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 00:11 Sir, – Research emerged recently that strongly points to the harmful effect that alcohol has on our brains (“Just a few drinks will damage the brain, research shows”, June 6th). People who drank alcohol had poorer […]

Ireland’s harmful relationship with alcohol needs to be altered by first being tackled by legislators, writes Dr Bobby Smyth, Consultant Psychiatrist, in thejournal.ie See article from thejournal.ie below. _____________________________________________ ‘Our children’s television viewing is bombarded with the thrills and spills of alcohol’ Our legislators need to take action and alter our harmful relationship with alcohol, […]

Members of the public were invited to engage informally with psychiatrists as part of Green Ribbon month through the CPsychI 3rd annual Twitter Q&A session which took place on Wednesday evening, 31st May at 7pm. For 2 hours Consultant Psychiatrists Dr Miriam Kennedy and Dr Jennifer Hoblyn took charge of the @GreenRibbonIRL Twitter account to engage with people about mental […]

Dr Sara McDevitt spoke to the Sorcha Pollack of the Irish Times about attitudes to eating disorders within the medical profession following recent statistics which show that the number of hospitalisations of teenage girls for anorexia and bulimia has almost doubled over 10 years, according to the HSE. These statistics, released under the Freedom of Information Act, […]

Clare men are still among the most likely in the country to take their own lives, behind just Carlow and Kerry. President of the College of Psychiatrists Of Ireland, Dr John Hillery, spoke to Gavin Grace on Clare.FM about these worrying statistics and the supports available to those in need. Listen to the full interview […]

Following continual delays there is a strong possibility that the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill may return to the Seanad in the coming weeks, according to Alcohol Action Ireland.   Now that the Bill seems to back on the agenda the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland encourages our Members and the public to contact their local T.D.’s to […]