Latest news with #SUH
Irish Independent
14-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Sligo University Hospital commences new maternity-specific anaesthetic clinic
The Anaesthetic Pre=Assessment Clinic, which commenced on May 15th 2025, will see 120 antenatal patients per year. It is also a place for post-natal patients to come and discuss their anaesthetic experience should they have any questions or concerns. The benefits of this clinic include more consistent information being given to patients, with clear documented instructions, and multidisciplinary plans for labour and theatre safe plans with an Obstetric. This clinic will also help promote safety, quality of care and improve patient satisfaction. Before this, high risk pregnant women that required antenatal anaesthetic review were referred to the General Pre Assessment Clinic (PAC). PAC is the preassessment clinic in the hospital for preoperative assessment of surgical patients. The Anaesthetic Pre Assessment Clinic is essentially a specialised service for pregnant women who may require anaesthetic care during pregnancy due to pre-existing medical conditions, pregnancy related complications or anaesthetic issues. The clinic is led by two consultant anaesthetists in collaboration with Obstetricians and Midwives and will run on alternate Wednesdays. The primary aim is to provide a woman centred care, assess anaesthetic risk, make a plan for safe anaesthetic care to ensure a safe, well planned and informed care for mums and babies. Dr. Joey Coyne, Consultant Anaesthetist, spearheaded the project along with Jualiana Henry, Director of Midwifery at SUH. Dr Coyne said: 'It took over a year of planning and meetings to get it set up. The lightbulb moment was when I thought it better to try and co-locate with obstetrics in Kingsbridge to run alongside the Antenatal clinic. 'There are specific criteria that obstetricians use to refer patients to the clinic - for example, significant medical problems, history of anaesthetic issues, or even as simple as wanting to discuss pain relief options in labour.' 'The Sligo Obstetric Anaesthesia clinic has been a wonderful new service for maternity services in the North West. It allows an opportunity for consultant anaesthetist input into planning for delivery. 'Personalising care, allows informed decision making, and identifying higher risk pregnancies. This will contribute to a safer birthing experience in Sligo.'
Irish Independent
12-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
New roof for leaking orthopaedic theatre at Sligo University Hospital to be completed by the end of the year
The news has been welcomed after it was revealed that some patients have had operations cancelled as a result of water coming on to the floor at the unit. Concerns have been expressed for patient facilities at the unit after it was revealed by consultant John Kelly in The Sligo Champion that the roof was leaking and operations were being cancelled. This revelation has caused major concern among patients waiting to have procedures, according to a local councillor. A statement from from the Regional Health Forum said the hospital is set to undergo significant improvements aimed at enhancing theatre operations and overall service delivery. It added that a full roof replacement for the Orthopaedic Theatre had gone to tender. The project had an estimated turnaround time of three months. Completion of the new roof is expected by the end of the year. Currently, two out of three orthopaedic theatres are operational. The roof replacement is expected to help facilitate the return to full operational capacity and improved working conditions and plans are in place to explore the construction of new operating theatres in 2026. These additions aim to expand theatre capacity and further support clinical needs. ADVERTISEMENT The project will also include upgrades to storage space and changing facilities for staff, enhancing functionality and comfort. Cllr Barry Gallagher had a motion at last week's monthly meeting of Sligo County Council calling on the council to contact the HSE to investigate when was this issue first noticed and what is the timeline for the repair works to be completed. It also queried what arrangements have been put in place for patients who were scheduled to have operations in this theatre at SUH. While welcoming the statement Cllr Gallagher said he was still seeking answers on behalf of patients who had surgery cancelled as a result of the leaking roof. He added that the Council had invited the CEO of SUH Tony Canavan and the Maintenance Manager to their next monthly meeting. 'I am still not happy with it as this situation has been going on for two years. 'It was closed last year numerous times and it was closed for five days in April of this year and operations were cancelled. The theatre is functional unless there is heavy rain. 'A lady came to me who was supposed to have a hysterectomy on Wednesday and she was contacted the evening beforehand to say it was not going ahead as the theatre was not available and another man who is self-employed has a shoulder injury. 'He went for his MRI and was told that his operation was going ahead in Sligo but he can't get a date now because the theatre would not be open to do operations.' Cllr Gallagher added that SUH had some of the best surgeons in the country but he would be very fearful of losing them because of the theatre not being operational. 'This three months turnaround is only the design stage and I know the Health Minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill has pledged to fast track the project, it will be very hard to see a new roof installed by the end of the year. 'I want to know what plans, if any, are in place for patients who badly need operations.? 'What are people going to do while we wait for a new roof? 'I know one man and he is self-employed who is waiting on an operation. 'He can't work and he has a mortgage to pay and a daughter going to college. 'What is going to happen to him.? 'This is a life changing operation. 'I have asked are they going to re-schedule his operation for Castlebar, or Galway or Limerick or Dublin.'
Economic Times
31-05-2025
- General
- Economic Times
No roof, no rest for over 3 lakh people: Why Delhi still can't house its homeless
Despite years of state and central schemes, Delhi's homeless population remains dangerously underserved. Over 3 lakh people are estimated to be without permanent shelter, with many relying on footpaths and flyovers to survive. Experts cite deep flaws in implementation, manpower shortages, and a lack of long-term planning. Official surveys and testimonies reveal that shelters fall short by nearly 90% of need. Voices from the ground urge urgent policy reform, better housing plans and job creation to address the root causes of homelessness. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A city's count, a city's gap Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Life on the pavement Shelters that empty by morning Supreme Court steps in Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Gaps in policy and politics What locals see, what they want Under Delhi's bridges, on its pavements, and near its markets, thousands sleep in the open every night. They sell balloons and trinkets at crossings by day. By night, they huddle beneath tarpaulin sheets, battling hunger, dust, noise and weather, as reported by arrived in the capital hoping for work. They stay back after dreams collapse, left with no roof over their heads. Some are alone. Others are with families. All try to carve out a life on efforts like the Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE) and the National Urban Livelihood Mission 's Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) promised change. Yet the numbers sleeping rough say otherwise.A major count conducted in August 2024 revealed that 1,56,369 people were sleeping on the streets between 11pm and 5.30am. The city's estimated homeless population is over 3,00,000, according to Dr Indu Prakash Singh, member of the State Level Shelter Monitoring Committee (SLSMC).'The current shelters are not enough,' said Dr Singh told TOI. 'Delhi has more shelters than many cities in the world. Govt also provides food and medicines at the shelters. But, there are not enough of them, and many people still sleep outside.'Dr Singh noted that despite a decade since the launch of the SUH scheme, shelter provision is still 90% below the requirement set by the Master Plan for Delhi city's footpaths double up as kitchens. Boundary grills become clotheslines. The underside of flyovers serve as bedrooms. Entire families survive this way—elderly people, disabled individuals, pregnant women and children alike.'Remove poverty, bring jobs everywhere, and homelessness will disappear,' said Dr Singh. 'The tragedy of this country is that the poor are persecuted and not supported. If poverty schemes truly worked, we wouldn't be here discussing this.'He added, 'Homelessness isn't the issue. The lack of work is. The real problem is a govt deficit — not of money, but of care and commitment.'Despite government funding and court directives, shelters often stand underused or overwhelmed. A senior Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) official explained, 'The court has assigned us responsibility, but the challenge remains. Many homeless people return to the streets despite food and shelter. Some families stay for decades, others never come. We rescue at least 40–50 people daily. They use the night shelters but leave by morning. We urge donors to give to shelters.... We've proposed skill-based programmes for employment.'He said the issue was not just infrastructure. 'The lack of manpower (at the shelters) is a big issue. The key is creating jobs in home states to reduce migration to Delhi.'In February 2025, during a hearing on urban homelessness, the Supreme Court posed a pointed question: should jobs take precedence over handouts?While recognising the urgency of shelter, the court asked for a balance in welfare policies. It challenged whether one-time benefits were sustainable, especially when structural gaps in employment and housing BJP, ahead of its election promises, had pledged to remove homelessness entirely if it formed the government. Yet realities on the ground suggest long-term plans remain to Dr Singh, DUSIB—primarily an engineering body—has been burdened with social responsibilities that should fall under welfare departments. 'Govt must come up with a holistic policy on this — at central and state levels,' he Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) also believes that short-term schemes aren't Kumar Aledia, executive director of CHD, said: 'The cityscape may be important, but addressing the problem of homelessness is also crucial.' He stressed the need for structured efforts: 'Long-term planning, like the five-year plans we had earlier. There were discussions about housing rights for the homeless then.... We need at least five years of dedicated effort, especially for housing policies. Marginalised sections can contribute to the Smart City projects too.'He added, 'Homeless people would have to be brought to the mainstream.'Suchita Kacker Meena, a Delhi resident, offered a citizen's perspective. 'Sustainable solutions to homelessness lie in building more shelters, creating job opportunities and ensuring effective implementation of rehabilitation programmes.'This sentiment is echoed in many neighbourhoods where the homeless have become part of the local landscape—visible but largely there are schemes, food vans, medicines, and occasional rescue drives, the core issue remains unaddressed—how does a city care for those it sees every day but rarely notices?With half the required shelters missing and few clear roadmaps ahead, Delhi's homeless continue to survive in fragments—half-visible in crowded streets and half-forgotten in public plans.(With inputs from TOI)
Time of India
31-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
No roof, no rest for over 3 lakh people: Why Delhi still can't house its homeless
A city's count, a city's gap Live Events Life on the pavement Shelters that empty by morning Supreme Court steps in Gaps in policy and politics What locals see, what they want (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Under Delhi's bridges, on its pavements, and near its markets, thousands sleep in the open every night. They sell balloons and trinkets at crossings by day. By night, they huddle beneath tarpaulin sheets, battling hunger, dust, noise and weather, as reported by arrived in the capital hoping for work. They stay back after dreams collapse, left with no roof over their heads. Some are alone. Others are with families. All try to carve out a life on efforts like the Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE) and the National Urban Livelihood Mission 's Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) promised change. Yet the numbers sleeping rough say otherwise.A major count conducted in August 2024 revealed that 1,56,369 people were sleeping on the streets between 11pm and 5.30am. The city's estimated homeless population is over 3,00,000, according to Dr Indu Prakash Singh, member of the State Level Shelter Monitoring Committee (SLSMC).'The current shelters are not enough,' said Dr Singh told TOI. 'Delhi has more shelters than many cities in the world. Govt also provides food and medicines at the shelters. But, there are not enough of them, and many people still sleep outside.'Dr Singh noted that despite a decade since the launch of the SUH scheme, shelter provision is still 90% below the requirement set by the Master Plan for Delhi city's footpaths double up as kitchens. Boundary grills become clotheslines. The underside of flyovers serve as bedrooms. Entire families survive this way—elderly people, disabled individuals, pregnant women and children alike.'Remove poverty, bring jobs everywhere, and homelessness will disappear,' said Dr Singh. 'The tragedy of this country is that the poor are persecuted and not supported. If poverty schemes truly worked, we wouldn't be here discussing this.'He added, 'Homelessness isn't the issue. The lack of work is. The real problem is a govt deficit — not of money, but of care and commitment.'Despite government funding and court directives, shelters often stand underused or overwhelmed. A senior Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) official explained, 'The court has assigned us responsibility, but the challenge remains. Many homeless people return to the streets despite food and shelter. Some families stay for decades, others never come. We rescue at least 40–50 people daily. They use the night shelters but leave by morning. We urge donors to give to shelters.... We've proposed skill-based programmes for employment.'He said the issue was not just infrastructure. 'The lack of manpower (at the shelters) is a big issue. The key is creating jobs in home states to reduce migration to Delhi.'In February 2025, during a hearing on urban homelessness, the Supreme Court posed a pointed question: should jobs take precedence over handouts?While recognising the urgency of shelter, the court asked for a balance in welfare policies. It challenged whether one-time benefits were sustainable, especially when structural gaps in employment and housing BJP, ahead of its election promises, had pledged to remove homelessness entirely if it formed the government. Yet realities on the ground suggest long-term plans remain to Dr Singh, DUSIB—primarily an engineering body—has been burdened with social responsibilities that should fall under welfare departments. 'Govt must come up with a holistic policy on this — at central and state levels,' he Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) also believes that short-term schemes aren't Kumar Aledia, executive director of CHD, said: 'The cityscape may be important, but addressing the problem of homelessness is also crucial.' He stressed the need for structured efforts: 'Long-term planning, like the five-year plans we had earlier. There were discussions about housing rights for the homeless then.... We need at least five years of dedicated effort, especially for housing policies. Marginalised sections can contribute to the Smart City projects too.'He added, 'Homeless people would have to be brought to the mainstream.'Suchita Kacker Meena, a Delhi resident, offered a citizen's perspective. 'Sustainable solutions to homelessness lie in building more shelters, creating job opportunities and ensuring effective implementation of rehabilitation programmes.'This sentiment is echoed in many neighbourhoods where the homeless have become part of the local landscape—visible but largely there are schemes, food vans, medicines, and occasional rescue drives, the core issue remains unaddressed—how does a city care for those it sees every day but rarely notices?With half the required shelters missing and few clear roadmaps ahead, Delhi's homeless continue to survive in fragments—half-visible in crowded streets and half-forgotten in public plans.(With inputs from TOI)
Time of India
30-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Lakhs homeless in Delhi, little planning on their relief
New Delhi: Below the city's flyovers, across busy pavements and near markets, there are faces we pass by every day. They are Delhi's homeless hundreds — barefoot, faces streaked with dust, squatting on the hard ground under torn tarpaulin or selling their wares at traffic crossings. Among those who end up on the streets, many come to the city seeking a better life but end up on the pavement. There have been talks of schemes to make their lot better, such as the Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE). There are night shelters for the homeless, but thousands still sleep on the roadside, battling hunger, harsh weather and cold concrete. Dr Indu Prakash Singh, a member of the State Level Shelter Monitoring Committee (SLSMC), Delhi, in inputs for the UN-Habitat global report, has highlighted the scale of the issue. He cited a survey from Aug 2024. During this survey, 1,56,369 people were counted as sleeping on Delhi's streets between 11pm and 5.30am. The estimated homeless population in the city is over 3,00,000. Women, children, the elderly, the disabled, pregnant women, the mentally ill and those recovering from addiction or illnesses are the most vulnerable. "The current shelters are not enough," he said. "Delhi has more shelters than many cities in the world. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Govt also provides food and medicines at the shelters. But, there are not enough of them, and many people still sleep outside. The National Urban Livelihood Mission's Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) scheme, launched in 2013, was meant to change this. But even after 10 years, the challenge remains." Dr Singh added that the city's shelter capacity falls short by almost 90% of the requirement under the Master Plan for Delhi, 2021. The impact of the homeless on the city's landscape is visible. Suchita Kacker Meena, a Delhi resident, said: "Sustainable solutions to homelessness lie in building more shelters, creating job opportunities and ensuring effective implementation of rehabilitation programmes." For the homeless, boundary grills become clotheslines, footpaths become kitchens, and spaces under flyovers are makeshift homes. The homeless sell balloons, toys and trinkets on the road. A DUSIB official said: "The court has assigned us responsibility, but the challenge remains. Many homeless people return to the streets despite food and shelter. Some families stay for decades, others never come. We rescue at least 40–50 people daily. They use the night shelters but leave by morning. We urge donors to give to shelters.... We've proposed skill-based programmes for employment." He added that the "lack of manpower (at the shelters) is a big issue. The key is creating jobs in home states to reduce migration to Delhi." BJP had guaranteed removing homelessness if it formed a govt. In Feb 2025, while hearing a case on urban homelessness, Supreme Court questioned if offering jobs would be better than giving freebies. While it acknowledged the need for shelter for the homeless was a priority, it stressed the importance of a balance in welfare policies. Experts say the root of the issue is deeper — gaps in housing policies, long-term support and lack of inclusion. "Remove poverty, bring jobs everywhere, and homelessness will disappear," Dr Singh said. "The tragedy of this country is that the poor are persecuted and not supported. If poverty schemes truly worked, we wouldn't be here discussing this." He said that homelessness "isn't the issue. The lack of work is. The real problem is a govt deficit — not of money, but of care and commitment." Many times, the social welfare department puts all responsibility on DUSIB, he said. "but DUSIB is an engineering body, not a welfare body.... Govt must come up with a holistic policy on this — at central and state levels." Sunil Kumar Aledia, executive director of the Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), said: "The cityscape may be important, but addressing the problem of homelessness is also crucial." He added that the solution lay in "long-term planning, like the five-year plans we had earlier. There were discussions about housing rights for the homeless then.... We need at least five years of dedicated effort, especially for housing policies. Marginalised sections can contribute to the Smart City projects too." He added that homeless people would have to be "brought to the mainstream."
