Implementing public health nursing training for Ireland's National Healthy Childhood Programme.

Unlabelled: Public health nurses (PHNs) in Ireland provide preventative child health. An evidence-based National Healthy Childhood Program (NHCP) has been in development since 2016. The final program implementation, including training all PHNs coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Impact of thyroiditis on 131I uptake during ablative therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer.

Context: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is usually treated by thyroidectomy followed by radioiodine ablation and generally has a good prognosis. It may now be possible to limit the amount of treatment without impacting on efficacy. It is not known whether coexistent thyroiditis impacts on radioiodine uptake or on its potential efficacy, but this could provide a rationale for modification to current therapeutic protocols.

A comparison of service organisation and guideline compliance between two adjacent European health services.

Introduction: Outcomes in stroke patients are improved by a co-ordinated organisation of stroke services and provision of evidence-based care. We studied the organisation of care and application of guidelines in two neighbouring health care systems with similar characteristics.

Methods: Organisational elements of the 2015 National Stroke Audit (NSA) from the Republic of Ireland (ROI) were compared with the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) in Northern Ireland (NI) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Counting on commitment; the quality of primary care-led diabetes management in a system with minimal incentives.

Background: The aim of the present study was to assess the performance of three primary care-led initiatives providing structured care to patients with Type 2 diabetes in Ireland, a country with minimal incentives to promote the quality of care.

Methods: Data, from three primary care initiatives, were available for 3010 adult patients with Type 2 diabetes. Results were benchmarked against the national guidelines for the management of Type 2 diabetes in the community and results from the National Diabetes Audit (NDA) for England (2008/2009) and the Scottish Diabetes Survey (2009).

Management of diabetes in primary care: a structured-care approach.

Background: In the Irish Midland Health Service Executive (HSE) Diabetes Structured Care Project, additional resources were targeted at general practice in the absence of a local hospital-based specialized diabetes unit.

Objective: We assessed the performance of the Midland HSE Diabetes Structured Care programme in 2003, bench-marked against Primary Care Trust (PCT) data from the 2003/2004 National Diabetes Audit for England.

Methods: Data on 947 patients (72% of eligible patients) from all 20 general practices participating in the structured-care programme were collected retrospectively over a 12-month period.