Climate Conversations Irish Doctors for the Environment

How does sheltered housing, private nursing home care and single handed GP practice relate to climate change?



Can keeping care in the community, endorsing general practice with schemes to retain GPs rural areas and on islands be a form of carbon capture? Is the model of care described here the missing link in the perennial trolley crisis and demographic cliff edge we face as we head towards 2050?



In this episode of Climate Conversations we talk to Dr Jerry Cowley who has been championing rural healthcare and care closer to home for his entire career as a Co. Mayo GP. By keeping his patients cared for in their own communities, he has not only protected local hospital services, he has allowed patients to live with dignity and in familiar environments, all the while bolstering the resilience of the community in which he works.



Jerry is much more than a GP as his bio below details. Please enjoy this conversation and see if you can relate his frustrations with corporate care, an uneven playing field, hospital overcrowding to how we might deal with escalating healthcare emissions, the trolley crisis and climate change.Dr Jerry Cowley was a single- handed family doctor in rural general practice in Mulranny, Co. Mayo for the last 43 years. He retired from the GMS on 01/01/2024 but has stayed on -call for St Brendan’s Village in Mulranny.  He is a member of the ICGP and the RCGP. He is an honours law graduate as well as a qualified barrister. He is a co-founder and former chairman of the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and a former Vice-President of the Irish Council for Social Housing. He was an Independent TD for County Mayo from 2002 to 2007. He founded and led the successful campaigns for a Mayo Orthopaedic Unit, as well as for a National Irish Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, and for better cancer services including the extension of the Breast Check program to the West and South of Ireland. He has been a strong advocate of providing local rural services to retain local populations, and is the founder and former chairman and now Life President of the “not-for-profit” registered charity Safe Home Ireland (National Repatriation Centre for Ireland) which has to date with the support of the Irish government’s Emigrant Support Program assisted the permanent repatriation of 2250 long term Irish emigrants to return to a place as near as possible from where they left originally after years of emigration. He also is the founder and chairman of St. Brendan’s Village which is another “not-for-profit” charity and recognized as a model of good practice worthy of replication of supporting older people to stay in the place where they have spent most or all of their lives and have the support of family and friends. He is founder and chairman of the Rural Island & Dispensing Doctors of Ireland which held its 36th Annual Conference in Ballinasloe Co Galway  in October 2023 and co-hosted World Rural WONCA with the ICGP and School of Medicine UL in June 2022. He is fully supported by his beautiful wife Teresa (the better half of his brain) and his family of five children as well as the local community. His other passion is traditional Achill yawl racing (all of 26 foot long with one lug sail and no engine) which is the original of the wooden sailing boat species. He received the Dr Fiona Bradley AUDGPI award in 2014. He was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Medicine, honoris causa, by the University of Galway in November 2022 in recognition of his lifelong commitment to supporting rural communities

In this episode of climate conversations we journey down to the Beara peninsula in West Cork to meet Eoghan Daltun and explore his Atlantic rainforest! Eoghan is a sculptor, conservationist and author of the superb book 'An Irish Atlantic Rainforest: a personal journey into the magic of rewilding'



As we meander through the tangled explosion of life in a rainforest, we discuss the factors that prevent this wonderful and natural Irish habitat from existing across the country, Eoghan's personal journey of rewilding his farm, the concept of farming for nature, the Irish political landscape with regards to nature and what listeners can do to bring more nature into their lives!

In this episode IDE member and GP, David O’Connell, talks to Dingle GP, Dr. Peadar O’Fionnain about his path into local climate activism and his current campaign to be elected as Kerry’s first Green member of the county council. 

They discuss a range of issues - how the process of seeking election has led to a richer engagement with local community; the unique potential of the local doctor to promote change;  the sometimes conflicted role of medicine in relation to a green agenda; the importance of community and interdependence; and some of the successes achieved on the Dingle peninsula.

Do you ever feel a little frustrated we aren't seeing the shift to sustainable transport in Ireland that we need? Ever wonder... what is the plan? We talked to John and Martin and Aoife Fleming from the Dept of Transport to ask just these questions. You might be suprised to hear just how much is planned, how much is happening and how much has been done already!



For context see below the national climate action plan

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/7bd8c-climate-action-plan-2023/



See also the national sustainable mobility policy

848df-national-sustainable-mobility-policy



And finally see link to something mentioned in the conversation, the national sustainable mobility forum in Athlone.

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/0d8cd-national-sustainable-mobility-forum-19-20-april-2023/



Athlone already has an electrified bus service and there are 35 Pathfinder programmes in total.

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/143e3-pathfinder-programme/



One final take-away. The policies aren't enough, we also need community engagement to see past local barriers and make them a reality.



Enjoy this episode and please share!

Niamh NiChonghaile is an occupational therapist working with Mental Health Ireland and is the National Woodlands and Nature Project Lead. It is a role every bit as exciting and interesting as you might imagine! Please do see the below links to see how to get involved in your county. Listen in to hear more about what the program entails. Also, see below some of the literature discussed in the episode. We hope you enjoy this inspiring converation.

https://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/woodlandsforhealth/

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177186

https://esthersternberg.com/books-publications/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013916518774400?journalCode=eaba

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/17043718_View_Through_a_Window_May_Influence_Recovery_from_Surgery

https://elemental.medium.com/how-soft-fascination-helps-restore-your-tired-brain-27669cd0be9d

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-019-00118-6

You would be forgiven for missing it, but just last week (June 2023) the states largest employer, and one of the largest organisations in Europe, launched their strategy to decarbonise by 2050. Their ambition? "The HSE is committed to achieving net-zero emissions no later than 2050, delivering healthcare which is environmentally and socially sustainable" You can read the 41 page document 👉

https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/healthbusinessservices/national-health-sustainability-office/climate-change-and-health/hse-climate-action-strategy-2023-50.pdf

however we felt it might be easier to digest it over a conversation. We were delighted to be joined by Dr Philip Crowley, who is the national director of strategy and research for the HSE. Philip was instrumental in bringing the HSE CLimate Action strategy into existence. To distill the strategy further we were joined by Irish Doctors for the Environment (IDE) committee members Dr Ana Rakovac, Dr Rachel McCann, Dr Sandra Green, Dr Sean Owens and Dr Ola Nordrum for a panel discussion on what this means for Irish healthcare going forward.

You can read IDE 's statement on the strategy here 👉https://twitter.com/IrishDocsEnv/status/1670717315858432000?s=20

You can read more about the road to Net Zero here 👉 https://healthcareclimateaction.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Health%20Care%20Without%20Harm_Health%20Care%20Decarbonization_Road%20Map.pdf (especially technical terms such as scope 1,2 and 3 on page 16)

And you can find out more about IDE at https://ide.ie/ please do sign up for the newsletter and to see how you can get involved.