Up to 12 smaller Irish hospitals would reportedly be unable to provide comprehensive acute care following the implementation of the Hanly Report.

The Health Service Executive is reportedly planning to press ahead with the implementation of the controversial Hanly Report, despite speculation to the contrary.

LOBBYISTS campaigning against the downgrading of small hospitals claim there are community groups around the country ready to mobilise at a moment’s notice to oppose the implementation of the Hanly reform of the health service.

Former Minister for Health Micheál Martin and two junior ministers in his department are to be questioned on the illegal nursing home charges when they appear before the Oireachtas Health Committee next month, it emerged today.

The Government is reportedly set to shelve the recommendations contained in the contentious Hanly Report on hospital reform.

An overwhelming majority of Irish consultants and doctors reportedly believe that the Hanly Report on hospital reform will never be implemented.

A HEART attack victim who fell ill just minutes away from his local hospital, died after being taken to another hospital 37 miles away.

Former minister for health Micheál Martin has said he did not attend a meeting this time last year at which the problem of charging people over the age of 70 in nursing homes was raised.

THERE were hopes last night of a breakthrough in the dispute between consultants and the Department of Health over insurance cover.

NOT one cent of the over €8 million paid out to GPs for the care of elderly medical card patients who were dead has been recovered despite Government promises to recoup the full amount.

Political Editor Harry McGee interviews Health Minister Micheál Martin.

IF, as predicted, Fianna Fáil loses two seats in Waterford, the finger of blame will be pointed at Health Minister Micheál Martin.

Opponents of the Hanly Report on hospital reform have called on the Government to reveal how it plans to implement the reforms before people cast their votes in next month’s local election.

The Health Services Action Group has called on people to vote for opponents of the Hanly Report in the upcoming local elections.

DOCTORS are angry at being sidelined in the State’s plan to reform the healthcare system.

TREATMENT for mentally-ill patients is “in a deplorable state” because of inadequate funding, the Irish College of Psychiatrists (ICP) said yesterday.

THE Isle of Man has developed a good model healthcare system that would provide an alternative to the Hanly Report, independent deputy Dr Jerry Cowley said yesterday.

TWENTY-four-hour medical cover meant patients with heart attacks, spinal or head injuries, and accident victims will be stabilised in hospitals like Nenagh and Ennis before transfer to major trauma centres in Cork and Limerick, sais Health Minister Micheál Martin yesterday.

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin has denied sanctioning new posts at Nenagh Hospital as a ploy to appease the public in the run-up to the local elections.

The author of the Hanly Report on hospital reform has reportedly claimed that the implementation of his report is being affected by politics and the upcoming local elections.

The delegates from the weekend’s Fianna Fáil árdfheis no doubt went home in an upbeat mood after party leaders imbued them with a renewed spirit of enthusiasm, reinforced by Ireland’s magnificent win against England at Twickenham, to which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern adverted.

A FURIOUS row has broken out between the Government and critics of its plans to centralise acute hospital care with both sides accusing the other of lying.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night signalled a partial climbdown on the Hanly Report when he confirmed smaller hospitals would maintain 24-hour emergency cover provided by doctors.

FIANNA FÁIL TD Máire Hoctor last night welcomed the commitment by Health Minister Micheál Martin to providing 24-hour cover for Nenagh Hospital in Co Tipperary, through the introduction of the Hanly Report.

The East Coast Area Health Board is moving to allay fears over the future of St Columchille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown in south Co Dublin.

THE birth of a baby in an ambulance while in transit between hospitals in Monaghan and Cavan yesterday highlights major flaws in the Hanly Report.

A number of regional hospital action groups have formed a coalition to oppose the Government’s plan to centralise acute hospital services.

RELATIONS between the Department of Health and the country’s consultants have grown steadily worse since a Government-commissioned report on health reform last year recommended the renegotiation of the consultants’ contract.

Fine Gael is hitting out at the Minister for Health's plans to hire private spin-doctors to sell the Hanly Report's recommendations to the public.

HOSPITAL consultants have accused Minister for Health Micheál Martin of jumping the gun by ordering the start of a contentious new medical negligence insurance scheme without their agreement.

A NEW nationwide pressure group to resist the highly controversial Hanly Report on health service reform has been established.

Opposition to the Hanly report on hospital services has stepped up a notch with the creation of a national steering committee to campaign against proposals in the report.

A group of the country's most senior medical experts today launched an attack against the Government’s controversial Hanly report.

Contrary to some press reports, various Fianna Fáil deputies insist that there was not any meeting in Cork aimed at pressurising the Taoiseach on the implementation of the Hanly Report, much less a secret plot to oust him.

NENAGH residents are planning a street rally next Saturday to protest against the Hanly report on the health services.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has insisted that none of Ireland’s hospitals will be forced to close because of the reforms contained in the Hanly Report.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has told journalists that, as far as he is concerned, the controversy surrounding Defence Minister Michael Smith’s opposition to the Hanly Report is over.

Hospital action groups opposed to the Hanly Report on hospital reform are reportedly planning a State-wide campaign against proposals to centralise acute hospital services.

A GROUP representing thousands of people has threatened legal action to stop any downgrading of its local general hospital.

WHAT does it take to galvanise Taoiseach Bertie Ahern into decisive action?

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has spoken from Rome about Defence Minister Michael Smith's public attack on the radical health reforms proposed within the Hanly Report.

THE future of the Government's blueprint for the reform of the health services is in jeopardy after an unprecedented repeat attack on its merits by a senior minister.

PATIENTS will be permanently on trolleys when the first pilot scheme of the Hanly Report on hospital restructuring is implemented, hospital consultants warned yesterday.

ANGRY theatre nurses have threatened to strike if their local health board fails to pay them new on-call rates sanctioned by the Department of Health in July.