Medical Card Genius!

Medical Card Online!

It seems the HSE have finally come into the technological world and start to use it to everyone’s advantage.

With delays on everything HSE, between being inundated with applications from the unemployment line to disputes and strikes across the board, it seems everyone is waiting for something from the HSE.

BUT, after much criticism received on the delays and waiting times for medical cards, the HSE have announced their launch of their GP visit or Medical Card online application service.

You can now go online and check if you qualify and if so, you can also go through the motions with their online application service!

Paddy Burke, Head of the HSE’s Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) says, “The service will be of interest to thousands of people who simply wish to verify eligibility”.

He went on to comment on “90% of applicants who automatically qualify for a medical card based on their income will be able to use the website for their cards”.

With a combination of relief from applicants and also the HSE employees workload, this may well be one of the best steps the HSE has taken in recent times.

Patient Waiting Lists

There are 3 main Hospitals responsible for the longest Surgical waiting lists in Ireland.

Approx 50% of all patients waiting over a year for surgery are under the care of -

Tallaght Hospital

Temple St Children’s Hospital

Midland Regional, Tullamore

This is in accordance with the latest figures from the National Patient Register

 At the end of April, 611 patients were waiting over 12 months for Surgical Procedures.

115 of these were Tallaght Hosp, 79, Temple St and 73, Tullamore.

Some positive news though. Compared to the figures collated from last year, this is a nearly 50% decline in numbers of patients waiting over a year.

A spokesperson for the National Treatment Purchase Fund - NTPF made the point that the average waiting time across all Specialties across the Public system in Ireland for both Surgery and Medicine remains at a historical low of 2-3 months.

The NTPF are now concentrating on the few patients left waiting still over a year for Surgery with the hope they can help in reducing this waiting time.

The Honest Recruiter

The Honest Recruiter?

No matter how the market is performing in Recruitment, there is never any excuse for dishonesty.

Unfortunately, we have had alot of comments made to us from our job seekers about the level of dishonesty in the Recruitment market in recent times.

Most common complaints -

• Advertising jobs that do not exist
• Making promises to find a job seeker a job
• Telling Client Companies you can fill their job in X amount of time
• Telling job seekers you will send their CV to a Company and then not
• Not informing job seekers you have sent their CV to a Company - this is illegal practice
• Promising job seekers you will get back to them with feedback on their CV submission and then not
• Promising job seekers you will keep in touch and then not

This is all misleading and unprofessional Recruitment Practice and does not abide with the NRF guidelines for Best Recruitment Practice.

This gives the Recruitment Industry in Ireland a bad name

Recruitment is a very responsible and worthwhile job.

As a Recruiter, you take job seekers future and career in your hand - this should be handled professionally and carefully.

In recent times, the decline in the Recruitment market has led to some dismal practice and short cuts and this needs to be stopped.

Our job seekers trust us that we will do our very best for them, this sort of practice leads to a lack of confidence and trust in us.

For further infomation on Best Practice in the Recruitment Industry in Ireland, go to -

www.nrf.ie

This is for Clients and Job Seekers and every Recruiter in the country should know it, practice it and live by it every day of their working life as a Recruiter.

Honest and Integrity as a Recruiter brings Awards

Sandyford Maternity gets Go Ahead!

A new Maternity Hospital planned for Sandyford has finally received approval for planning permission.

The new state of the art maternity hospital will be in Sandyford and will exist for women and children’s hospital needs.

It will hold 127 single patient rooms with the divisions being paediatric, maternity and gynaecolgy sections. It will hold 6 delivery rooms, 12 neonatal intensive care and special care beds.

Alongside these, the maternity hospital will comprise of 4 new theatres, 30 daycare beds 16 clinical suites and 8 urgent care beds.

“The women’s and children’s hospital at beacon would be happy to enter a service level agreement with the HSE to alleviate the present and future capacity issues” said the Beacon Medical Group spokesperson.

Initially privately run, the new Maternity Hospital at Sandyford will also open it’s doors for both public and private patients.

Doctor Doctor!

Well folks, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend and just the right time for a ‘Doctor Doctor’ joke -

Patient - ‘Doctor Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains’

Doctor - ‘Well, well, just sit there and pull yourself together’

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend folks and talk again next week.

Your CV Personal Profile is essential

Your Personal Profile on your CV is essential in today’s jobs market - you cannot submit your CV for a job without one.

When a potential employer receives an average of 50 CV’s today for 1 job, your Personal Profile can be the determining factor as to whether he/she will look at your CV in more detail, or not.

Employers use them as a guide to you!

Your Personal Profile is your one chance to highlight yourself and point out why you should be seriously considered for the job.

Your Personal Profile is your introduction to you - your chance to sell yourself, your chance to shine and stand out from the crowd.

Without one, the CV has no introduction and simply becomes a black and white list of your life.

Your Personal Profile should be one paragraph, approx 5 sentences outlining where you have come from and where you are going.

It can be used to sell yourself to a particular job and altered accordingly.

It can be used to rule out the competition.

It can be used to highlight your biggest achievements or used as a Sales ‘brag list’

These days, you cannot afford to have a CV without a Personal Profile at the top of it which takes minutes to draft but can alter your career path

A CV without a Personal Profile is like buying a new computer with no instructions!

So remember, you must have a Personal Profile on the top of your CV - do not send your CV anywhere without one.

A Fair Deal?

A Fair Deal it seems will now end up costing more than originally planned according to the latest Performance Report from the HSE.

In May, there was a trend showing a marked increase in Private Nursing Home payments.

A total of €16.6 million was spent on this scheme in May bringing the then year to date figure to almost €50 million.

If this rise is spending continues, the Report states, the costs will be higher than originally planned.

The application process for ‘A Fair Deal’ is now being closely watched to determine the possible trends for the remainder of 2010 according to the HSE.

The Board will be advised should the limit of funding be reached, according to the Report.

A large number of Nursing Home beds are now being left vacant as clients move towards the Private Sector with the launch of this ‘Fair Deal’

The outcome of this is that HSE Local Health Offices may have their budgets reduced as funding moves over to the ‘Fair Deal’

Use the 'Mirror Technique' to prepare for your interview

The pre interview ‘Mirror Technique’ is a very effective way to prepare for an up and coming interview.

We are asked every day for advice and information on how to present yourself at interview.

One of the techniques we highly recommend is to sit in front of a mirror and interview yourself.

Another option is to ask a friend or family member to interview you, but this has disadvantages - you can become self conscious, giddy or the feedback may not be too honest! -

A mirror never lies!

This is a very useful exercise for the following reasons -

• Do you smile enough
• How much you fidget
• How much you use your hands and gesticulate
• To observe your general body language which is 84% effective, or not in an interview situation
• Are you casual or professional
• Do you slouch
• Do you look to the left or right
• Are you rigid or relaxed

By playing the role of both interviewer and interviewee, you can observe how you come across to others.

This is concentrating on Body Language and in an interview situation, this is all important

Content of your interview is another matter dealt with seperately, but this ‘Mirror Technique’ focuses primarily on how you come across

In many interview training sessions, videotape is used and played back and this is a similar method to see how you sound, look and come across at an interview.

Unfortunatley, many of us do not have the relevant equipment at home to do this, but we all have access to a mirror!

Remember, when attending an interview, practice the ‘Mirror Technique’ beforehand so you are aware how you come across and have given youself the chance to improve anything you are not happy with BEFORE the actual interview.

Good luck!

CV is your first impression

First impressions last and it is rare you get the second chance to get it right.

In this day and age, CV slip ups are simply not allowed.

There is no excuse for a careless or poorly presented Curriculum Vitae - (CV)

If you are serious about your next job, you must be serious about your CV.

Your CV can make the difference between you getting an interview or not.

One of the most common errors we are seeing on CV’s are spelling mistakes - simple spelling mistakes.

This gives the impression of a job seeker who is rushed, careless and does not have good attention to detail.

Your CV should be your show piece - it is your one document of your life and experience of utmost importance when changing or seeking a new job.

Your CV is a direct reflection of you

I say nowadays as we are in an age of very advanced technology, there is software available to do your CV for you - there is a basic spell check - grammar check and a multitude of sources of reference on the internet to perfect your CV - therefore there is absolutely NO excuse for spelling mistakes on a CV.

We have one here within our website specific to CV guidelines and layout -

http://www.jackiebrownmedical.ie/advice/resources.php?url=advice

Those who take care, time and pride in their CV, recognising it’s significance will be the ones who are called for interview - your CV is a future employers or a Recruitment Agents first impression of you, so remember -

FIRST IMPRESSIONS LAST

See it - Believe it - Achieve it

The Law of Attraction  - If you see it in your mind, your’re going to hold it in your hand

Unfortunately, most people think or worry about what they don’t want or don’t want to happen and then wonder why exactly that does happen.

People ask why good things always seem to come to certain people and bad things seem to fall on others.

If you spend time thinking of these people ‘types’, you will begin to understand -

Positive people who have all the same problems around them as the next person but who persist in their optimistic view - ‘things will get better’ do attract exactly that.

Those who get very down in the mouth, negative and stressed when things go wrong - (understandably) attract negative things their way.

You are the one who calls the ‘Law of Attraction’ into action and you do it through your thoughts.

The good news is this is something we can learn to change through awareness.

This Law of Attraction is based around Quantum Physics and has been in existence since the beginning of time.

This centuries old Law has been understood and used by some of the most prominent people in history -

Einstein, Beethoven Plato and Carnegie to name a few.

In our recent economic climate, the debt and worries every family now face  - how nice is it to discover that by changing our way of thinking - we can help to change our situation?

So remember, if you feel down as a result of the cards dealt to you -

Your life is a mirror of the dominant thoughts you think