MEASLES UPDATE
There has been a signifcan rise in cases of measles in the past few months in England and there has been 1 reported fatality in an adult here in Ireland in 2024. As a result the HSE is recommending that everyone to make sure that children adn young people are up to date with their MMR vaccine.
ANyone born before 1978 are likely to have had measles infection so would not require vaccination.
MMR is available for all at the practice.
High Fever
Cough
Runny nose
Characteristic red rash see below image
If you feel you or your child might have measles, stay at home, don't allow visitors and contact the surgery for advice.
Photo taken from www.hse.ie website for information https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/measles/
We are delighted that we have Dr Alice Cummins back working with us who was working with us previously as a registrar. We are also joined by Dr Gillian Maguire.
Since July 2023 we have been joined by 2 new registrars Dr Barry Nolan and Dr David Healy. Barry is from the Trinity College Dublin training scheme and Dr David Healy is from the North Dublin City GP training scheme.
Dear patients,
We would like to advise you that there will be an increase in our practice fees with effect from 1st February 2023.
Private Doctors Consult will be €70
Private Nurse Consult will be €35
This week 23-29th January is European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week. As part of this initiative the Laura Brennan HPV Catch Up programme was launched on December 8th 2022. It will run until the end of December 2023.
The Vaccines will be delivered in vaccination clinics. The following groups are eligibile
Winter is coming and the flu vaccinations are here. Ring to book in for the flu vaccine. The main questions that we get are who can get them. This year the flu vaccination has been expanded to include children for the first time. We will run a weekend clinic for the childrens flu vaccines starting on the 9th October. Click below to make an appointment.
The flu vaccine is free to
Vaccination is strongly recommended for:
Persons aged 65 and over
Adults and children aged 6 months and older with a long-term health condition such as:
Chronic heart disease, including acute coronary syndrome
Chronic liver disease
Chronic renal failure
Chronic respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, moderate or severe asthma or bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Chronic neurological disease including multiple sclerosis, hereditary and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system
Diabetes mellitus
Down syndrome
Haemoglobinopathies
Morbid obesity i.e. body mass index over 40
Immunosuppression due to disease or treatment, including asplenia or splenic dysfunction and all cancer patients
Children aged 6 months and older:
with any condition (e.g. cognitive dysfunction, spinal cord injury, seizure disorder, or other neuromuscular disorder) that can compromise respiratory function especially those attending special schools/day centres
with moderate to severe neurodevelopmental disorders such as cerebral palsy and intellectual disability
on long-term aspirin therapy (because of the risk of Reyes syndrome)
Pregnant women (vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy)
Healthcare workers
Residents of nursing homes and other long stay institutions
Carers
People with regular contact with pigs, poultry or water fowl
If you have any respiratory symptoms namely cough, fever , shortness of breath there is a possiblity that you may have coronavirus.
Stop. Do not attend the surgery and ring first to speak to a doctor. This helps protect you and the patients and staff at the surgery.
Phone number is 01- 6901000
If you have symptoms the main step to take is to self isolate and contact us. Here is a link to the information from the HPSC on self isolation. https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/guidance/selfisolationathome/Patient%20information%20sheet%20for%20self-%20isolation%20%20V2.1.pdf
It is September and everyone is back to school or childcare and with that comes coughs, colds and other infectious diseases.
This handy poster gives advise on common illness and whether your child needs to stay out of school or not. If you are unsure make an appointment an come an see us.
HSE has announced that the HPV vaccination will be available for boys as well as girls in first year of secondary school from september 2019.
HPV is the human pailloma virus. In girls the HPV virus can cause cancer of the cervix, vagina, anus and head and neck. In boys HPV can cause cancer of the throat, penis, head and neck and anus.
HPV vaccination is also a cause of genital warts in boys and girls. The World Health Organisation states that the vaccine is extremely safe. Unfortunately there are no plans for a catch up vaccination schedule for boys in second year or above. If you wish to have your son vaccinated please or have any questions please come and chat to us. There have been concerns expressed about the safety of the vaccine in recent years. We have reviewed the data and believe it to be safe. We encourage all our parents to have their children vaccinated.
Posted 01/09/2019
There is an ongoing outbreak of mumps in the Dublin, Kildare and WIcklow areas. The majority of cases of mumps are in t students and young workers int he 15-24 year old age group. Mumps symptoms include fever, tiredness, headache and swollen salivary glands- swollen appearance to the cheeks and jaw. Symptoms can be managed with paracetemol. Mumps virus can be spread easily so if suspect mumps, please ring in advance and tell us so that we can isolate the patients.
Patients with mumps need to stay at home for the first 5 days of cheek swelling to prevent the spread of infection. Please do not attend ED without ringing in advance.
Mumps is preventable by vaccine , the HSE recommends that all students and people under 40 years shold be vaccinated wtih 2 MMR vaccines. If you haven't had your vaccines or if your child has missed their vaccines please book in for same.
There have been a number of cases of meningitis in the recent weeks in Ireland. It is important that children are up to date with their vaccines. Anyone up to the age of 10 can get catch up any vaccines that they have missed. The HSE have advised the Meningitis B disease is common in babies under the age of 1 and the National Immunisations Advisory Committee has never recommended a catch up programme.
If you want to have your children vaccinated for Meningitis B please ring and make an appointment. The fee for each vaccine is €150. Children over the age of 1 will require 2 vaccines at least 1 month apart.
Since 2014/2015 children in 1st year of secondary school have ben offfered Meningitis C vaccination. Any child who did not avail of this or did not consent for vaccination and are still in school can have the Meningitis C vaccination. The school immunisation teams will give at a "mop up " clinic.
Posted 01/02/2019
Much has been written about the serious failings in the cervical screening program. The decision of Mary Harney and the HSE to send smears to the US for analysis was wrong. The fact that the detection rate of abnormalities in the US lab was one third lower than the Irish labs should have led to a full review of this policy. 208 women were given a wrong negative result. In some women this has resulted in devastating terminal cervical cancer. Not all of these cancers would have been detected by a perfect screening program but some would have been.
Vicky Phelan who bravely brought this issue to the public domain by suing the HSE and refusing to stay silent, has highlighted the importance of women continuing to have smear tests. Cervical screening in Ireland, even with laboratory failings, has saved lives and reduced the incidence of cervical cancer by 7% per year since 2010.
The HSE has agreed to pay for a smear test for any women who have a concern. As there is no way of clinically knowing if your last smear test was correct, I believe a repeat smear is appropriate. Please contact reception for further advice or an appointment.
Posted 10/05/2018
I love September. Schools are now back in full swing. The autumn colours haven't arrived in the garden yet but are eagerly awaited. Summer is so jammed packed with activities and holidays that I welcome September as a time to reflect.
Yew Medical started trading on 12/09/2016. We moved to our new premises on 27/03/2017. This September is a special milestone with lots of reflection. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has helped us and wished us well over the year. A big thank you also to all the patients who moved with us or have joined the practice since we moved. I would also like to thank Dr Niamh Murphy for all her help. Niamh was on placement with me from July 2016 to July 2017, as part of her 3rd year of GP training. Niamh is a fountain of knowledge and an absolute joy to work with. I will always be grateful for the support and insights she provided me with as I set up Yew Medical. She is now in her last year of training. I wish her all the best in the future. May her life as a GP always be rewarding and fulfilling.
Posted 07/09/2017
The British Medical Journal on 11/04/2017 has an interesting editorial on how clinical work spaces have a vital therapuetic role. Read more... This is something that we know instinctively to be true. After spending two weeks welcoming patients to my new surgery I am deighted with the positive feedback I have recieved regarding the design and most importantly that patients and visitors feel relaxed in the space. It is lovely to think that this in itself will lead to better health outcomes for all our patients and staff.
Posted 11/04/2017
On 27/03/2017 Yew Medical Centre moved to our new premises on the second floor of the Balbriggan Primary Care Centre, 66 Dublin St, Balbriggan. We had a wonderful first day. It was great to be working from a new building with easy access. We want to say a heart felt thank you to all our family, friends, colleagues and patients who sent cards, flowers and well wishes. Dr Finola, Dr Sarah, Dr Niamh, Nurse Meg and receptionists Leona and Tina are looking forward to many happy years working together and caring for our patients.
Yew Medical centre is hosting an opening day on Saturday the 22nd of April between 10am and 1pm. Nurse Meg will be teaching CPR. Our doctors will be doing free BP checks. It is an opportunity for us to show friends, family ,colleagues and patients our new surgery. Everyone is welcome. You don't have to be a registered patient of the practice to pop in. We look forward to seeing you on the day.
Posted 28/3/2017
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