January was the worst month on record for hospital overcrowding, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said its figures show.

The Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, has apologised to a truck driver who has sued after his voice box was removed five years ago in a 14-hour unnecessary operation.

The father of a baby girl who died shortly after birth in Limerick six years ago says he and his wife have now been told they cannot have any more children.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

“It’s a total disgrace what we had to do to obtain justice for our innocent baby Caoimhe.”

A woman was yesterday charged at Limerick District Court with the murder of a pensioner on November 10, 2013.

Doctors, patients and opposition TDs have urged the HSE to "come clean" on "hidden" hospital waiting lists, after claims tens of thousands of people unable to access "life-saving" care are failing to be counted.

A baby who deteriorated during a four-minute transfer between Dublin hospitals died two days later, an inquest heard.

A nurse — a mother-of-two on her way to work — died in an early morning crash yesterday which also claimed the life of an elderly driver.

Almost nine years ago, on the night of November 2, 2005, Patrick O’Kelly, a 61-year-old security guard, fell from his bed in the then Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where he was being treated for a suspected stroke. Within hours of that accident, his family was summoned to his bedside to be told that Mr O’Kelly was dying.

A 25-year-old man has died following a collision in county Limerick last night.

The body of an Athlone man, missing since last Wednesday, has been discovered in a bog in Co Tipperary.

Appalling conditions at the emergency department of a major hospital are threatening patient safety, increasing risk of infection and compromising cleanliness, a damning watchdog report has found.

A new report has highlighted a number of patient safety risks in the Limerick Hospitals group which it states must be addressed as a priority.

A leading clinical director believes a second emergency department would be beneficial for the Mid-West region in the wake of claims that University Hospital Limerick is in “chaos”.

A man who slapped, punched, and threw a 10-month-old baby in what was described as a “truly horrific” case of child cruelty has had his three-year sentence increased to the maximum of seven years following a successful appeal by the DPP.

The murders of a mother, her two young children and a family friend, in a house in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, on Nov 15, 2010, was described by a coroner as “mindless, mind-numbing, inexplicable, vicious” crime which shocked the nation.

A seriously ill woman was left to die alone in a major hospital after medics failed to check on her condition for seven hours on her final day alive.

Two of Ireland’s largest hospitals spent more than €8m on junior doctor overtime last year — the equivalent of €22,000 a day.

A charitable foundation set up by businessman JP McManus has donated more than €33 million to causes in Ireland and abroad over the past six years.

A family of three boys were left shattered and heartbroken after their youngest son, aged just 4, was killed yesterday in a road crash.

The hospital at the centre of a series of computer breaches spent twice as much on its IT security than planned budgets allowed during the period examined in a HSE audit.

Niall Kelly, a registrar at Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, says he worries about making mistakes because of the long hours he works.

A man has died after being found collapsed on a beach yesterday.

Praveen Halapannavar’s case against the HSE following the death of his wife follows a long line of high-profile claims which have contributed to a near €400m State Claims Agency recession-era health bill.

A new facility at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, will allow keyhole procedures to be performed on colon cancer patients — offering results equal to those found in leading clinics internationally, an award-winning surgeon said.

A seriously incapacitated man has missed three hospital appointments due to the lack of a dedicated patient transfer vehicle service in Clare.

An €18m intervention fund has been set up as the latest initiative in tackling the politically sensitive and enduring issues of emergency department overcrowding and excessive patient waiting times.

The body representing hospital consultants is seeking a meeting with the Health Minister after he announced that almost 50 hospitals will be headed by six independent groups under plans to reform Ireland’s acute hospital system.

A seriously-ill patient had to be placed in the back of an ambulance for life-saving treatment when there was no room for him at the emergency department of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital yesterday.

In 2005, a 74-year-old woman in West Clare was put on a list to a see a specialist at the Mid-Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom, Co Limerick.

Over 5,600 patients in Limerick are waiting four years or more for an outpatient appointment to see a doctor, figures from the HSE show.

The best friend of the late homeless man Josef Pavelka, who came to national attention because they both had to sleep in a public toilet, said Josef was his fourth friend to die from drinking too much alcohol “and I don’t want to be the fifth to die from drinking”.

Following the death of an elderly patient at St Ita’s Hospital in Newcastle West during an outbreak of flu, the coroner for West Limerick has ordered an autopsy.

A 77-year-old retired farmer has died in a fire on the Cork - Limerick border.

Two Co Limerick sailors both fighting cancer are taking to the high seas to help raise their own spirits and help save lives on land and offshore.

Children and teenagers needing psychiatric care are being denied admission to mental health facilities while beds lie idle.

Fire officers have expressed fears about overcrowding at one of the country’s busiest hospital emergency departments.

Nearly 60% of the 9,800 people waiting four years or more for an outpatient hospital consultant appointment are based in Limerick.

A handgun was recovered by gardaí yesterday, during raids on homes, in an operation targeting criminal gangs in Limerick.

Four people, including two Garda officers, were hospitalised yesterday following a dramatic two-car collision in Limerick city centre.

A motorist was yesterday found guilty of dangerous driving causing the deaths of a married couple when his 4x4 went onto the wrong side of the road and ploughed into their vehicle.

Seriously ill children sent to emergency departments are not being treated away from adult patients, including many who are violent and drunk, a HSE report claims.

Sligo Regional Hospital has become the latest such facility to implement a ban on visitors because of an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug.

A man has died following a road accident in Co Limerick.

Nearly one fifth of consultant posts in the country’s hospitals are vacant or being covered by locums, temporary employees, or part-time staff.

The HSE is spending over €2,600 per week on taxis ferrying staff between two hospitals in Limerick city.

An attack which resulted in two Limerick City fire- fighters being hospitalised has been condemned as “shocking and disgraceful”.

A leading consultant cardiologist has warned that a decision by the HSE to transfer patients in Limerick who suffer from a specific type of heart attack to Galway will lead to “disasters”.