PLANS to reduce junior doctor working hours and change the way consultants serve public hospitals have hit a major hurdle — just days after a blueprint for health service reform was published.

FOUR more operations have been cancelled at Crumlin children’s hospital since the death of a baby whose heart surgery was cancelled last week.

The Cabinet will tomorrow receive proposals jointly from the Ministers for Finance and Health, which are being billed as a major thrust to radically overhaul the health system.

A BREAKTHROUGH in the two-month old public health doctors strike yesterday saw both sides in the dispute accept Labour Relations Commission (LRC) proposals for independent reviews of their grievances.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency have accepted LRC proposals aimed at resolving the nine-week old strike by public health doctors.

PUBLIC health nurses are considering restricting their workload by refusing to take on new cases because a massive staff shortage is creating unacceptable workloads.

THE threat posed to the Special Olympics

There is optimism this evening that there may be some progress in talks aimed at ending the public health doctors strike this evening.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency are due to resume talks at the Labour Relations Commission today in an effort to resolve the eight-week-old public health doctors' strike.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency are due to return to the Labour Relations Commission today in an effort to resolve the eight-week-old public health doctors' strike.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) are due to return to the Labour Relations Commission today in an effort to resolve the eight-week-old strike by public health doctors.

Talks between health service employers and striking public health doctors have broken up for the weekend without agreement.

The Irish Medical Organisation is due to meet the Health Service Employers Agency today in an effort to resolve an eight-week-old strike by Ireland's 300 public health doctors.

FINANCE MINISTER Charlie McCreevy lashed out at unions yesterday, accusing them of failing to live up to their side of the national wage deal.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency have agreed to return to the Labour Relations Commission this Friday to discuss the seven-week old strike by public health doctors.

THE Government has seen waiting list figures grow instead of decrease despite having spent €172m on the problem.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is due to meet today to consider a request for support from striking public health doctors.

The Minister for Health says he hopes fresh talks can take place next week to try and end the strike by public health doctors.

STRIKING public health doctors last night agreed to become involved in the investigation of a new suspect case of SARS in a Dublin hospital.

Public health doctors are to return to the picket lines after exploratory talks at the Labour Relations Commission ended without success.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency are due to attend talks at the Labour Relations Commission today in an effort to resolve the public health doctors' strike.

Both sides in the public health doctors dispute are to attend talks at the Labour Relations Commission tomorrow.

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin has accused the Irish Medical Organisation of exaggerating their pay claims for senior public health doctors.

SERVICES to monitor infectious diseases will be severely disrupted from today with the start of an all-out strike by the country’s 270 public health doctors.

A VOTE for all-out strike by public health doctors could leave the country exposed to outbreaks of infectious disease, including the new killer pneumonia virus.

MORE consultants are to be brought into hospitals shortly on a pilot basis, Health Minister Micheál Martin confirmed yesterday.

NURSES representatives have pointed the finger of blame at consultants for the latest A&E crisis to grip the country's major hospitals.

THE Labour Relations Commission will hold a special meeting later this week to discuss the A&E crisis in the eastern region.

GARDAÍ are to patrol the corridors of Limerick Hospital following an increase in violent attacks on staff.

A NUMBER of patients in the Mid-Western Health Board (MWHB) have had surgery cancelled because of industrial action by theatre nurses.

Hundreds of geriatric and psychiatric patients in Ireland face disruption after medical workers said they would go on strike.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency are due to resume talks on the junior doctors’ dispute at the Labour Relations Commission today.

JUNIOR doctors yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action if talks to resolve their dispute with employers fail at the Labour Relations Commission.

Talks are resuming today in a bid to prevent industrial action by junior doctors spreading across the country.

More than 200 hospital attendants are due to begin rolling industrial action in the east of the country tomorrow as part of a dispute over pay.

Talks on the junior doctors' dispute at Waterford have been suspended until Friday.

THE hurling season may be drawing to a close but there’s still one man perfecting his hurler-on-the-ditch routine.

THE GOVERNMENT last night said it will not intervene in a junior doctors’ dispute which threatens up to 450 planned operations as well as 1,000 outpatient appointments in two hospitals this week.

Health Minister Michael Martin tonight appealed for an end to industrial action that has halted operations at two hospital and could spread nationwide.

All non-emergency surgery was cancelled at one of Ireland’s biggest hospitals today as industrial action by junior doctors got underway.

JUNIOR doctors at one of the south east's busiest hospitals will begin a work-to-rule from tomorrow evening.

OVERTIME payments to nurses are set to top 36 million euro this year as staff shortages continue to hit health services.

IT seems ludicrous for the country's health boards to be paying out huge sums in overtime payments to nurses, when the same resources could be used to make more attractive the employment of permanent staff.

The Irish Medical Organisation has called for a meeting with the Health Service Employers Agency to discuss potential problems with the proposals put forward to end the nursing dispute in accident and emergency units.