Latest news with #NOCA
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
One-third of ICU admissions within one hour of decision
One-third of admissions from emergency departments or wards into intensive care happened within one hour of the decision being made to admit, while 87% were admitted within four hours, a report has found. The Irish National ICU Audit annual report, published by The National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA), highlights pressures on capacity within ICUs across the public hospital system. It found the national average occupancy rate for ICU beds is 95% - well above the recommended rate of 85%. Despite the pressures, NOCA said the ICU network maintained "high quality outcomes" compared to international standards. It said 80% of ICU patients survived to the point of being discharged, adding this is "satisfactory" considering the severity of illness of patients who were admitted to ICU. Commenting on the findings, the Clinical Lead for the Irish National ICU Audit said the study "highlights the resilience and quality of care delivered across Irish ICUs, despite significant resource challenges". "While our overall outcomes are encouraging, the data underlines persistent issues, particularly in terms of bed capacity and timely admission to ICU," Professor Rory Dwyer said. The report recommends continued investment to expand ICU capacity, maintaining a focus on timely access to critical care and further development of ICU outreach services to support deteriorating patients outside of ICU settings. Meanwhile, the number of inpatient beds in acute public hospitals will need to increase by at least 4,400 by 2040, if the State is to keep up with the demands of an aging population, according to new research. New projections from the Economic and Social Research Institute have revealed that the number of required additional beds for inpatient services could reach 6,800 at the higher end of the scale. That would represent an increase on the current bed capacity of between 40% and 60%. It is forecast that the population could increase from 5.3 million people to anywhere between 5.9 million to 6.3 million by 2040, while the number of people over the age of 65 will go from one in seven to one in five. The ESRI's Health Service Capacity Review report said an additional 650 to 950 day patient beds by 2040 are needed to meet projected growth requirements, which would represent an increase of between 25% and 37%. It has also noted the occupancy rates across all beds in the public system are at 92.6%. Dr Aoife Brick, Senior Research Officer at the ESRI and lead author of the report, said the findings "highlight significant future growth in demand for public acute hospital services, driven primarily by population growth and ageing". "The report offers policymakers evidence on the scale of service expansion needed to meet future demand," Dr Brick added. In the Programme for Government, there is a pledge to "increase capacity by between 4,000 and 4,500 new and refurbished inpatient hospital beds across the country". Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the report "allows us to better anticipate future healthcare demand and capacity". This, she said, will ensure "our health system evolves to meet the needs of our changing population". "I look forward to ongoing engagement with the ESRI and our colleagues in the HSE as we continue to develop and strengthen our future capacity plans," the minister added. Reacting to the report, Sinn Féin said it lays bare the failure by Government to get ahead of increasing capacity in acute hospitals, which the party claims has led to overcrowding and extremely dangerous situations in emergency departments. Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Health David Cullinane said he has been "calling on the Government in each and every budget to provide the capital funding to increase bed capacity". "They have failed to do this over the last five years," he said. "The Government have to make the investments over the next number of years. They are playing catch up," he added.
Online Citizen
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Online Citizen
Jackson Au slams ELD and media silence over false quote targeting Siti Alia before Cooling-Off Day
SINGAPORE: Workers' Party (WP) member Jackson Au has criticised what he described as a glaring lack of scrutiny from mainstream media and regulators, after a false social media post misquoting WP candidate Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar surfaced just before Cooling-Off Day. The post, published on 1 May 2025 by pro-PAP Facebook page Singapore Matters, claimed that Alia had said the 'Israel-Palestine conflict is more important than bread and butter issues.' The post featured her image alongside the fabricated quote. AFP's fact-checking service debunked the claim on 5 May, confirming that the quote was never made during Alia's campaign events. Despite this, Au noted that regulatory bodies and major media outlets had not issued any public statements addressing the post. Singapore Matters issued a clarification on 20 May, admitting that the post was based on a video with subtitles that were not verbatim. The page described its update as a 'long overdue' clarification and stated that it removed the post after internal review. According to the clarification, the video used in the original post reflected 'the general sentiment' of Alia's speech, but the exact phrasing was inaccurate. 'In keeping with our editorial standards, the post was removed,' the page stated, adding that it believes in transparency with readers. They reiterated that Alia's candidate introduction video highlighted an incident involving the portrayal of the Israel-Palestine conflict in schools as a key reason she decided to enter politics. AFP traced the misquote to a rally speech on 24 April. The full video was uploaded by the WP to YouTube on 25 April. In that speech, Alia had said: 'We meet our MPs to discuss bread and butter issues, yes, but we would also like to meet our MPs to discuss the effects of certain laws or the government's positions on certain global issues.' She questioned the Ministry of Education's decision to introduce a course on the Israel-Palestine conflict in schools without parental consultation, but at no point claimed the issue was more important than domestic concerns. Au calls it a 'sorry, not sorry' response The timing of the post drew particular concern. Au noted that the misinformation was released just hours before Cooling-Off Day, when political responses and clarifications are restricted. This, he argued, left Alia with no opportunity to defend herself publicly. Au described Singapore Matters' clarification as a 'sorry, not sorry' statement, sarcastically referring to it as a NOCA — 'Note of Clarification and Accountability'. He contrasted the delayed correction with the swift action typically taken against opposition politicians or independent platforms found to have breached campaign or speech regulations. 'This response stands in stark contrast to the swift and decisive correction orders we've seen meted out to other online platforms or opposition politicians,' Au said. He also raised the possibility that the incident may fall under the scope of the Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Bill, or ELIONA, which was passed in October 2024. The legislation is aimed at curbing disinformation and digitally manipulated content during elections. 'If indeed it is, then it should be a major news story in its own right,' said Au, adding that the lack of attention from mainstream outlets and government authorities was troubling. Au acknowledged that online media sites such as Mothership and The Online Citizen had covered the story after Polling Day. However, he expressed disappointment that no official agency or mainstream outlet had addressed the disinformation publicly. He noted that neither the Elections Department (ELD) nor media regulators had issued a public warning or reminder about the dangers of online disinformation under ELIONA. 'No one has sought to speak truth to power and call this out for what it is: fake news,' Au stated. Who is behind Singapore Matters and SG Matters? Singapore Matters is widely viewed as a pro-government social media platform. Its content regularly highlights the achievements of the PAP while criticising opposition parties. Earlier, TOC wrote to the ELD seeking clarification on whether the dissemination of misinformation by Singapore Matters—particularly so close to polling day—would be investigated under existing electoral regulations. In response, the ELD stated only that the matter had been referred to the relevant department. According to domain registration records, the website is registered to an individual named Realm Chua. Tips received by TOC suggest that Realm Chua may be an alias used by Facebook user Cai Zhiwen. Separately, a check on Cai's Threads account shows that he is using the handle 'realmczw', which may further suggest that Realm Chua and Cai Zhiwen are the same individual. TOC reached out to Cai via his Facebook page to clarify whether he is responsible for managing the Singapore Matters and SG Matters platforms, and whether he remains affiliated with NTUC. Update: Cai denies link to flagged Singapore Matters content, NTUC role In a Facebook post at 4:48 p.m. on 21 May, Cai responded to TOC's report, stating that he had no involvement in the creation or publication of the Singapore Matters post that was flagged by AFP for containing falsehoods. He also clarified that he no longer holds any position at NTUC. However, he does not deny that he runs the Facebook pages and website, and that he is the person responsible for the publications. Au and Alia were part of the WP team that contested in Punggol GRC against the People's Action Party (PAP) slate led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong during the 3 May poll. Their teammates included Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh and Alexis Dang. The PAP team won the contest with 55.17% of the vote, defeating the WP team, which garnered 44.83%.
