OPPOSITION parties have called for the Tánaiste to personally respond to a letter from a hospital consultant in the south which they said “shows a health system out of control”.

THIS is the damning letter sent by a leading consultant to Tánaiste Mary Harney and leaked to the Irish Examiner which exposes the chronic state of cancer services in the south of the country.

A PROBE was launched yesterday into why there was an almost 20-minute delay in an ambulance responding to a 999 emergency call in Kerry at the weekend.

STAFF at the former Southern Health Board were overpaid almost €670,000 in the past three years, it has emerged.

CLINICAL nurse managers had complained to the HSE about being forced to attend PPARS training courses when hospital staffing levels were at critical levels, it was revealed yesterday.

THE post of specialist in orthodontics for the Health Service Executive (HSE) Southern Area was advertised with a closing date of May 2005.

Gardaí today named an ambulance driver killed after his vehicle crashed while taking a patient to hospital in Cork.

A GOVERNMENT pledge to provide public forums for local representatives to raise concerns about the health service has not been fulfilled a year after it was made.

THE cost of running the new A&E unit at Cork University Hospital increased by €1m in the three months after it opened and a further e1m increase is expected by mid-October.

THE Government must provide substantial funding to train up to 800 extra Irish doctors a year to tackle the escalating shortage of medical staff here, the Irish Patients’ Association insisted yesterday.

Juno McEnroe and Donal Hickey

GARDAÍ are trying to locate a 12-year-old boy who was abducted by his biological parents just weeks after he had been entrusted to the care of a foster family.

A YOUNG woman in a coma was forced to spend almost three years at an acute Cork hospital as more suitable community care could not be found for her.

FINE Gael Deputy Bernard Allen yesterday put the blame for the resignation of a Cork oncologist firmly at the door of the Department of Health.

AN award-winning cancer treatment specialist has quit his job at one of the country’s busiest hospitals because of a lack of resources.

UP to 7% of people develop irrational fears, phobias or depression after a life-threatening event.