Latest news with #Brophy
Business Wire
14-08-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
Nurse-to-Patient Ratios Save Lives and Reduce Staff Burnout, Says New Academic Study
OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new academic study says mandating nurse-to-patient ratios would save lives, improve overall outcomes for patients, and alleviate the staffing crisis in Ontario's hospitals. Based on an extensive review of existing research on staffing levels in hospitals, in-depth interviews with many Ontario hospital nurses, and an examination of mandated nursing staffing standards in places like California, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Australia, the researchers recommend Ontario's hospitals adopt a similar policy to ensure safe staffing levels at all times. 'The evidence shows that nurse-patient ratios save lives,' said Dr. Jim Brophy, co-author of the study and a researcher affiliated with the University of Windsor. 'Assigning nurses a manageable workload ensures patients receive appropriate care, which in a high-stakes hospital environment can mean the difference between life and death.' Dr. Brophy said the evidence was overwhelming on the issue, with one study showing a seven per cent rise in death rates for every additional patient assigned to a nurse. He said another study from the U.K. showed that hospitals with the worst nurse staffing levels had 26 per cent higher death rates. Conversely, death rates declined in California's hospitals after nursing ratios came into effect in 2004. Nurse-patient ratios are generally associated with a positive impact on patient care, he said, being associated with 'lower levels of medical errors, decreased risk of infections, and lower readmission rates.' Dr. Margaret Keith, co-author of the study, said mandating nurse-patient ratios would address Ontario's nursing shortage. Between 2022 and 2024, nurse vacancy rates in the province shot up by 43 per cent. 'Ratios equate to safe staffing levels for nurses,' she said. 'Mandated ratios reduce injury rates and burnout, reduce the moral distress of not being able to provide optimum care, and thereby improve staff satisfaction and morale. Addressing these factors would tremendously improve the retention and recruitment problem in Ontario's hospitals.' Based on August 2025 data from The College of Nurses of Ontario, there are 16,437 licensed but non-practicing nurses in the province. Keith said Ontario would do well to emulate the Australian province of Victoria, where mandated staffing ratios resulted in a 24 per cent increase in the nursing workforce with more than 7,000 inactive nurses resuming practice. 'It's an incredible story that shows it is possible to fix the health care staffing crisis,' she said. 'We know that attrition rates are very high in Ontario, and this solution could help stem the bleeding.' Recently, other provincial governments in Canada have taken initiative on minimum nurse staffing levels with employers in British Columbia and Nova Scotia obligated to adhere to newly enforced standards. In Manitoba, the government, employers, and the unions have signed a letter of intent to study the matter. Rachel Fleming, a registered practical nurse and member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees' (CUPE) Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), says inadequate staffing ratios are taking a devastating toll — not only on patient care but also on the emotional well-being of nurses. 'Every day, we're being forced to make choices that go against everything we believe as caregivers,' said Fleming. 'When you can't give medication on time, when a patient goes without a bath or the comfort of someone simply listening to them, when you can't even answer a call bell because you're torn between other patients in desperate need—it breaks your spirit. I know so many incredible nurses who walked away not because they stopped caring, but because the pain of not being able to care properly became unbearable.' According to the authors of the report, nursing ratios also have the potential to save costs by decreasing reliance on private agency staff, reducing avoidable readmissions, as well as workplace injuries and illnesses. In California, workplace injuries reduced by 32 per cent after the introduction of nursing ratios while hospitals in Pennsylvania with lower staff burnout rates had 6,200 fewer infections for annual cost-savings of up to $68 million. OCHU-CUPE will be proposing nurse-patient ratios for 50,000 hospital workers in central bargaining with the Ontario Hospital Association next month. However, the union is wary of the hospitals' opposition to the idea. 'Hospital management in the past rejected nurse-patient ratios, despite evidence that these ratios save lives and improve health outcomes for patients, because they restrict their ability to understaff – a reality forced on them by Ontario's chronic underfunding of our hospitals,' said Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE. 'Ratios will bring thousands of nurses who have left the profession in despair back to work. Adopting ratios in bargaining will push the provincial government to fund and staff its hospitals properly. For patients and for nurses, it is time for this fundamental change.' Last year, the Ontario PC MPPs voted against an NDP bill to legislate nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals. The bill was reintroduced by the NDP in May 2025 but has yet to be debated. :gv/cope491
RTÉ News
10-08-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Call for stronger policing response after attacks on Indian citizens
The Minister of State for Migration has called for a stronger policing response, in the wake of a series of attacks on members of the Indian community. There have been several assaults and incidents of racism reported by Indian people in Ireland, prompting the Indian Embassy to issue a warning to its citizens living and working in Ireland. More than 100 people took part in a silent protest by members of the Indian community in Ireland at the Department of Justice last month. Colm Brophy said that the attacks were appalling, adding that he hoped that the incoming Garda Commissioner would prioritise the matter. "We actually have seen a drop in serious crime, but in this particular area, we have seen a rise in the type of attacks," he said. "I think there needs to be a stronger policing response in this area." Asked about reports that some of the attacks were being carried out by teenagers, Minister Brophy said he did believe young people could be punished in a "meaningful way" and pointed to recent legislation on hate crime which carries heavier sentences. Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Minister Brophy said communities needed to come together to understand that it is not acceptable to have these attacks taking place. He said there needed to be a proactive response, similar to those in relation to organised crime and that gardaí were doing an excellent job investigating crimes, but he said he wanted clarity that resources would be deployed to deal with the rise in attacks on minorities. Asked why no action was being taken against social media companies who allowed images of attacks to remain on their platforms, Minister Brophy said they would work with the firms to clamp down on this. "There is a combined need…to look again and see how we can work with social media companies to clamp down on this," he said. "I don't think it is acceptable that social media companies, some of them, using ridiculous guises of free speech, etc, have not been willing to participate in a way that I believe they should clamp down on this." He said the first thing to do was to get companies to agree to participate and engage with Government on the issue. Colm Brophy also denied that a crackdown on immigration was emboldening people who might attack migrants. to discuss the incidents.
Sunday World
03-07-2025
- Sunday World
Homeless charity worker ranted about terrorists on Luas while carrying knife
Anthony Brophy has spent most of his adult life homeless and featured in an RTE documentary about life on the streets A homeless charity worker, who began ranting at passengers about terrorists after armed gardaí intercepted him carrying a knife on Dublin's Luas, has been jailed. Anthony Brophy, 42, who has spent most of his adult life homeless featured in an RTE documentary about his life on the streets, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a knife, breach of the peace, failing to give gardaí his name and criminal damage to a garda station cell which he soiled with his own bodily fluids and filth on April 9, 2024. He was handed a six-month prison sentence and banned from using the Luas for two years by Judge John Hughes at Dublin District Court on Thursday. In evidence, Garda Anna Toland said that the incident unfolded at around 9.50 pm after gardai were alerted about a man on the Luas red line, travelling inbound. She followed the tram, driving her patrol car along the tracks until Heuston station, and saw him on the tram before it continued to the Museum stop. A Garda armed support unit was notified and waiting When Garda Toland got there, the knife was on the ground, and Brophy, of Maxwell Street, Dublin 8, had been disarmed using soft arm techniques. However, he was verbally abusive, refusing to provide his name and 'shouting at people about terrorists' and saying 'what were they doing on the Luas and looking at him' The court heard that he was taken to Kevin Street Garda station and charged as 'unknown' because he would not disclose his name, which he withheld until he appeared in court the following day. Anthony Brophy News in 90 Seconds - Thursday, July 3 Judge Hughes noted that when Brophy was kept overnight, he urinated, spat and defecated in a holding cell. The court heard he had 25 prior convictions, including one incident where he was caught carrying three knives on a date in 2017. However, he had never received a prison sentence. Judge Hughes inquired about the circumstances of how the knife was detected. Garda Toland said the ASU officers informed her Brophy had it in the buckle of his belt or down his trousers when they met him. State Solicitor Rory Staines confirmed a member of the public reported a knife being brandished, but with no witness or evidence to support it, Brophy was charged only with possession. It was not in open view when the ASU arrived. Paul Larkin Coyle BL, defending, told the court his client is going to be a father to his first child later this year. Counsel informed the judge that Brophy now worked as a security guard but was also training for a job in construction, and wants to provide stability for his child and contribute to society. Counsel described Brophy's experience of being homeless for 25 years as desolate, but detailed his involvement with charities to publicly assist in providing accommodation to others, and a pro-social lifestyle now. Anthony Brophy Stressing positive developments, counsel said his client featured in an RTE documentary on the homeless crisis, which helped him to get accommodation. The barrister said Brophy was employed as a fisherman at the time and, coming home from work, still had the knife, and it should never have happened. However, the judge, having been shown the blade, did not accept that as a reason. 'It is not a situation where he had just walked off the beach with a fishing rod and a knife, he was travelling on the Luas with a knife in his hand,' he remarked. Brophy stood silently throughout the hearing. Judge Hughes noted all the factors, including the previous offending, and cited the Justice Minister that there should be an expectation of a possible prison sentence for knife crime. He had set a headline sentence of nine months but suspended the final three while ordering Brophy to attend anger management counselling and remain on supervised probation for two years.
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Five homes on view this week in Kildare and Dublin from €360,000 to €1.15m
56 Oldbridge View, Osbertown, Naas, Co Kildare €360,000, Sherry FitzGerald O'Reilly An easy walk to the Sallins Arrow rail station, this two-bedroom, two-bathroom, mid-terrace B2-Ber-rated bungalow is a well-presented space. Extending to 95sq m (1,023sq ft) it has a separate living room and open-plan kitchen, diner, and a lounge that opens out to its well-maintained south-facing garden. It's also a short stroll to the Grand Canal walkway. On View: By appointment at Apartment 17, The Quarry, Carrickhill Road Upper, Portmarnock, Co Dublin €379,000, Brophy Within a short walk of Portmarnock's famed Velvet Strand, this ground-floor two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in a low-rise development has tasteful maritime touches such as its porthole-inspired round windows. Its open-plan living room opens on to a private southeast-facing patio. The 56sq m (602sq ft) property has a C3 Ber rating. On View: By appointment at READ MORE 5 Watermill Avenue, Raheny, Dublin 5 €575,000, Flynn & Associates This three-bedroom, two-bathroom semi-detached is within a five-minute walk of the village and St Anne's Park. It is also minutes from the coastal path and cycleway that can take you to Howth or across the city and the Causeway Road to Dollymount and Bull Island. The 96sq m (1,033sq ft) property has a D2 Ber rating. On View: By appointment at [ Meticulously restored Marino midterrace for €635,000 Opens in new window ] 201 The Links, Elm Park, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 €850,000, Owen Reilly Boasting panoramic views over Elm Park Golf Course and all the way to the Dublin Mountains, this three-bedroom, three-bathroom C1 Ber-rated duplex penthouse sits on the seventh and eighth floors. With a west-facing aspect the 144sq m (1,550sq ft) space has a double-height living space with floor-to-ceiling windows, a mezzanine-level home-working station, a generous terrace, and two designated underground parking spaces. On View: By appointment at [ Refreshed Modernist-style terraced home in Dundrum for €900,000 Opens in new window ] 69 Glenomena Park, Booterstown, Blackrock, Co Dublin €1.15m, DNG This fine five-bedroom, three-bathroom semi- detached has a brick-fronted extension, a decorative detail that is carried through into the low-maintenance back garden. The C1 Ber-rated property, which extends to 208sq m (2,239sq ft), has a utility garage, off-street parking and is in proximity to both schools and shops, and UCD's Belfield campus. On View: By appointment at
The Journal
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Migration Minister says he is unaware of reported plans to purchase Dublin's Citywest Hotel
THE MINISTER FOR Migration, Fine Gael's Colm Brophy, today said that he is not aware of plans to purchase Dublin's Citywest Hotel to house international protection applicants. The Irish Times reported yesterday that Cabinet has been considering the purchase of the 764-bedroom hotel, and are set discuss the purchase as soon as Tuesday. The facility could reportedly house up to 1,000 people. The report comes as the Department of Justice stepped back from contentious plans to convert the site of the former Crown Paints in Coolock to Ipas accommodation. The site had been at the centre of many protests – some of which turned violent. Speaking today on RTÉ's This Week, Brophy was asked about the report and whether it was accurate. Advertisement Brophy reiterated that he is a Minister of State and is therefore not privy to what is discussed during Cabinet meetings. 'I cannot comment on what is going to Cabinet on Tuesday for the very simple reason that as a Minister of State, I am not a member of the cabinet, so I don't have access to it,' he told host Justin McCarthy. 'I have the same level of knowledge that you have, which is you've read an Irish Times report and I've read an Irish Times report, so you're asking me to actually say something, as if I knew when I don't actually have access.' Brophy said he is 'absolutely aware of [the government's] program, of what we're looking to purchase. I am not aware of the specific memo that is going to Cabinet on Tuesday.' Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who was also on the programme, and Brophy argued over the state's approach to both Coolock and Ipas more generally. Ó Ríordáin said that the government had 'made a bags of it', referring to its handling of Coolock, while Brophy later labelled Ó Ríordáin's assertions as 'rubbish'. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
