A number of trade creditors of house builders Laragan Developments have told the High Court their anger over the manner they were treated by the company and during the examinership process.

I SMILED knowingly when I read the statements reportedly made by Prof John Higgins in relation to the future of Bantry and Mallow hospitals (Irish Examiner, March 6).

ROSCOMMON-BASED Hanly Group have acquired a €55 million site at Fortunestown Lane Citywest in Dublin.

PATIENTS in the north-east are in dire need of a new, centrally located hospital, but instead services have been downgraded and there have been multiple patient deaths, doctors said yesterday at the Irish Medical Organisation’s AGM in Kerry.

THE needless death of a patient in Monaghan General Hospital (MGH) has caused national outrage. The current trawl for a scapegoat is misconceived, however.

MEDICAL and nursing staff at a Tipperary hospital are to join with a local hospital action group to develop and fund a €50,000 blueprint on how their hospital should be developed.

THERE are fears more money will be wasted if the Health Service Executive (HSE) decides today to group hospitals across the State into four networks.

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.

A LEADING academic has warned that Irish medical students are in danger of falling behind unless funding is increased almost fourfold.

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

THE Department of Health (DOH) has spent more than €1.1 million on external public relations expertise since the general election.

RECENTLY I received a refusal from Mary Harney, Minister for Health, to meet with a deputation from the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee who are endeavouring to retain 24-hour accident and emergency services at Ennis.

LOBBYISTS campaigning against the downgrading of small hospitals are considering entering an alliance with new patients’ group Patients Together.

THE group opposed to the Hanly report and plans to downgrade 26 acute hospitals nationwide vowed yesterday to continue their fight, even though the plan has been put on hold.

Reform of the health service is on shaky ground following the departure of managerial expert David Hanly, it was claimed tonight.

Catherine Shanahan

Campaigners have said the death of a man en route to Cavan hospital yesterday shows the effect of the Hanly reforms on the health service.

THE Department of Health has come under fire for wasting €30 million of tax payers' money on unnecessary reports while the health service is struggling to cope with demand.

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

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney says pressing reforms will be dealt with in a practical way over the next two-and-a-half years.

CONDITIONS in some public mental hospitals remain Victorian, while private psychiatric facilities are state-of-the-art, a damning report by the Government’s mental health watchdog has found.

PROFESSOR Muiris Fitzgerald’s contention that the Hanly proposals, if implemented, would lead to greater efficiencies and effectiveness in the delivery of healthcare defies logic.

NEW work time limits, to apply to junior hospital doctors from tomorrow, will not be implemented at the expense of patient care, the Department of Health stressed yesterday.

Health Minister Micheál Martin is appealing to hospital consultants to come into talks to discuss their dispute over pay and conditions.

The National Birth Alliance has said the Hanly report will lead to a rise in roadside births.

A hard-hitting study offering an alternative to the Government’s Hanly report is to be launched by a health services action group today.

A simple remedy which can considerably reduce the occurrence of a major congenital condition and has been proven to have done so in other countries should not meet any resistance at governmental level here.

A SECOND minister has challenged Mícheál Martin’s hospital reform proposals by intervening in plans to downgrade Louth County Hospital.

Local hospital groups are meeting today to co-ordinate their campaign against the Hanly health service reforms ahead of the local and European elections.

WOMEN hold just 26% of medical consultant posts and only outnumber men at senior level in the area of psychiatry.

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.

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin yesterday insisted all acute hospitals could maintain their 24-hour emergency service if they produce concrete plans.

NEVER in the history of mankind has so little been learned about so much by so many. The Fianna Fáil Árd Fheis was like a sort of Pinocchio-fest.

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.

Health Minister Micheál Martin robustly defended his health reform proposals, accusing the opposition of brazen scare-mongering.

The Minister for Health has asked for the number of senior doctors to be doubled, if the controversial Hanly report is ever to succeed.

PATIENTS will suffer and waiting lists will increase once junior doctors’ working hours are reduced, a leading surgeon has warned.

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.

Eight hospital action campaigns have decided to join forces to form a new national organisation to face down the Hanly reforms.

The Labour Party is asking why the Budget did not allocate money towards health improvements proposed in the Hanly Report.