Medical staff whose command of Irish may be limited to "aon phian" in your "bolg" (stomach pain) will now be able to draw on an indispensable phrasebook.
Almost every condition in the Irish language, from warts to wheezes, is covered in Leaganacha Leighis, an English-Irish handbook for medical staff published today by the Health Service Executive (HSE) West.
The handbook was written by Dr Nicola de Faoite, who practises in Connemara. "It is difficult enough to be unwell and feeling vulnerable without having to struggle with communication problems," she explains in her introduction.
Dr de Faoite quotes the Department of Health's charter of rights which states patients have the right to be given information about the nature of their illness and health in language they fully understand.
She notes that up to 80 per cent of information required to diagnose a condition is drawn from a patient's medical history, and it is "very difficult to get an accurate history if the doctor and patient cannot communicate in the same language".
She hopes that her book will help medical professionals to speak Irish to patients from the Gaeltacht.
The handbook ranges from leigheas na bpáistí (paediatrics) to liacht intinne (psychiatry), and common phrases in general practice and accident and emergency. It also carries a series of diagrams with body parts and essential organs identified "as Gaeilge".
Publication of the book will be marked in Galway this evening by Fianna Fáil senator Mary O'Rourke.
