Staff at Cavan General had highlighted risks posed to patients; Hundreds of tributes have been pouring in for the late Derek Davis; and we ask, what makes a modern Irish family? These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this morning.

Doctors and nurses repeatedly highlighted the risk to patients posed by theatre staff shortages at Cavan General Hospital where four babies died in the last two-and-a-half years, including a newborn earlier this week.

Two sister hospitals in neighbouring counties have emerged as having the country’s best and worst death rates for heart attack patients in their care.

A safety system introduced in maternity wards after Savita Halappanavar's death is not functioning properly in a number of hospitals.

A delay in carrying out a caesarean section is understood to have been a key component in the death of a newborn baby boy at Cavan General Hospital.

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.

A baby who died after being transferred from Cavan General Hospital to a neonatal unit in Dublin is understood to have been the firstborn of the couple involved.

Care is provided by a small group of midwives in partnership with the woman’s GP.

THE HSE’s emergency cost-cutting drive has resulted in managers at one of the capital’s busiest hospitals being warned they are “personally” liable for any agency worker costs exceeding a newly imposed cap.

SOME of the country’s largest rural and regional hospitals are set to spend up to 10 times more on agency workers to fill staff gaps this year than in 2005.

A&E departments in smaller hospitals face a shortage of junior doctors as 158 posts remain unfilled, the head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) warned.

THE chairman of the HSE West Regional Forum, Padraig Conneely, has called on Health Minister, James Reilly, to intervene in the performance of University College Hospital Galway.

IRELAND has been plunged back into a hospital trolley crisis, after a shocking 446 people were forced to endure the unacceptable waits in a single day.

Cavan General Hospital has cancelled some elective, or non-urgent surgeries, as a result of a shortage of nurses supplied by agencies.

THE Emergency Department & and absenteeism at Limerick’s regional hospital continue to cause problems at the mid-west’s largest hospital.

The number of sick people waiting on trolleys and chairs for a hospital bed fell below 500 today.

CORK University Hospital (CUH) has been named as one of the country’s worst performing public health facilities for the third time since April.

PATIENTS are waiting up to 600 days to see a consultant at outpatient clinics in some hospitals around the country, according to the Health Service Executive performance information system HealthStat.

ROUND-the-clock emergency care will cease at Monaghan General Hospital (MGH) on July 22 and patients with an acute illness or in need of acute surgery will have to travel elsewhere.

Caroline O’Doherty reviews the National Cancer Control Strategy, which provides the opportunity to see whether specialist centres are the best means to survival.

SCIENTIST Catherina McCauley is now enjoying having her newborn baby daughter at home, after banking precious stem cells that can be used to treat an illness she may suffer in the future.

THE Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) last night called for the indefinite cancellation of all non-emergency surgery.

Overcrowding at hospitals in Cavan and Drogheda is reaching crisis point with patients facing extreme hardship and inhumane conditions, the Irish Nurses Organisation claimed today.

THE Labour party has called on the Tánaiste to explain why a report into the preventable death of a patient faces a three-month delay.

THE chief executive of the Health Services Executive has said his organisation must find an effective and lasting solution to the A&E problems in the North-East which led to the death of 76-year-old man last week.

HOSPITAL campaigners have refused to be reassured by the ordering of an internal report into the latest death of a patient denied treatment at Monaghan General Hospital.

AN offer by Ben Dunne and several businessmen to buy portakabins and equipment for overcrowded A&Es has been turned down by the Health Service Executive (HSE) on health and safety grounds.

BADLY managed hospitals where patients’ health is not improved by high treatment costs have been fined €7.5 million.

SURGICAL services at Cavan General Hospital are continuing to nosedive despite repeated recommendations for ways to improve the situation, the latest in a series of damning reports warns.

THE restoration of 24-hour accident and emergency services to crisis-hit Monaghan General Hospital may not be sufficient to prevent a repeat of the Bronagh Livingstone tragedy, campaigners warned yesterday.

THE chief executive of the North Eastern Health Board, at the centre of much controversy in recent years, yesterday hit back at negative reporting by the media about its hospitals, including Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and Cavan General Hospital.

HEALTH board officials have insisted emergency treatment will continue at Cavan General Hospital despite leaked correspondence which calls into question the hospital's ability to provide the service given a staffing crisis.