THE number of primary care teams (PCTs) in the Health Service Executive (HSE) South is less than half the figure required to support the reconfiguration of hospital services, according to a leaked report.

WATERFORD Regional Hospital is the only hospital in the south-east with a clinically viable Emergency Department (ED), according to a leaked report.

A SEVERELY physically and mentally disabled man is to lose three quarters of his disability allowance towards the cost of his respite care.

MORE than 11,000 children under the age of 15 are on waiting lists throughout Co Cork for tuberculosis (TB) vaccinations, it has emerged.

ALMOST a year after the opening of the country’s newest maternity hospital, its gynaecology theatres remain closed, leaving 117 women on a waiting list, some in need of urgent procedures.

A FINNISH pathologist whose work at Cork University Hospital (CUH) is the subject of an independent review has been reported to the Medical Council.

CONTRARY to popular belief, the number one reason men want children is to bring love and satisfaction to their lives — and not to carry on the family name.

FEARS the Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department at Mallow General Hospital could be downgraded or closed have been allayed with news that a dedicated casualty officer is to be appointed there.

AUTHORITIES were urged last night to fill a key position in the disaster planning group for Cork and Kerry, which has been vacant for several weeks.

A NEW crisis pregnancy counselling service that will offer support and contraception to women of all ages was launched in west Cork yesterday.

FIGURES on the level of reported child abuse and the manner in which complaints are dealt with reveal widespread inconsistencies and show why children are reluctant to approach authorities.

MORE heroin and cocaine abusers sought help for their addiction last year than any other time in the history of records in the south-east, drugs misuse statistics show.

THE number of violent incidents against staff at Kerry General Hospital in Tralee has almost doubled in the past year, the Health Service Executive (HSE) South confirmed yesterday.

LESS than one-in-five patients who deliberately harm themselves are admitted to a general hospital, according to the Irish Association of Suicidology (IAS).

DESPITE the fact that the Government insists that it is alert to the grave problem, and occurrence, of child sex abuse, it is dangerously lax in providing the resources to reduce the incidence of it.

THE €5 million centre built in Limerick four years ago to accommodate disturbed youths is still a huge financial burden on the Health Service Executive (HSE) Mid West, even though it remains shut.

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) Southern Area last night confirmed it is investigating the circumstances of an emergency call for an ambulance from a man who died later in a Co Kerry town.

HIGHLY-TRAINED ambulance teams are to be deployed in the Mid-West to improve response times to accident and emergency calls.

HUNDREDS of angry parents are planning to picket the Government’s Cabinet meeting in Cork this morning as paediatric services for thousands of special needs children face collapse.

MORE THAN 650 cases of child neglect were reported to social workers in the north-east last year, accounting for almost half of all child abuse reports.

Caroline O’Doherty