Doctors failing to file private insurance paperwork on time costs taxpayers €61m a year.

International soccer star John O’Shea has backed a campaign to stop the predicted break-up of the hospital network in the south-east which serves half a million people.

Seriously ill children sent to emergency departments are not being treated away from adult patients, including many who are violent and drunk, a HSE report claims.

A bitter dispute has broken out between consultants and a Government TD over who is to blame for a feared break-up of the hospital network in the south-east and a consequent loss of health services.

Public hospitals have spent over €3.2m on debt collectors to hunt down failed patient payments in just seven years.

I get referrals from GPs, hospitals and community-based services such as the probation service.

The HSE’s latest performance report has admitted an additional €130m of “cost and cash measures” will be needed over the next three months if it is to break even by year’s end.

Almost 170,000 people are waiting for a consultant appointment, with 316 left in limbo for over four years.

Funding for one of the largest hospitals in Munster is set to be slashed by €22m this year, forcing 30 beds to be closed as part of cost-cutting plans.

The country's first babies of 2012 are enjoying the first hours of the new year.

OVERTIME paid to HSE registrars is still costing over €100 million a year, while 15 hospital doctors around the country earned more than €100,000 in overtime alone last year.

SOME of the country’s largest rural and regional hospitals are set to spend up to 10 times more on agency workers to fill staff gaps this year than in 2005.

Investigations are continuing into a light aircraft crash in Co Wexford yesterday evening.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has told campaigners attempting to prevent the downgrading of a major rural hospital they will be consulted about any service changes.

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

One of the hospitals designated as a centre of excellence for breast cancer was reportedly failing to meet 36 of 48 national standards in October of last year.

THE country’s eight new cancer centres will provide patients with multiple examinations in one day, cutting out the current practice of several return visits to hospital.

THE country’s eight new cancer centres will provide patients with multiple examinations in one day, cutting out the current practice of several return visits to hospital.

PATIENTS waiting for outpatient appointments with consultants are facing queues up to 18 months long as hospitals deal with an unplanned surge in numbers.

PLANS for a cancer services unit have been put on hold at one of eight hospitals central to the successful delivery of the National Cancer Strategy.

ST JOHN’S in Limerick has been voted Ireland’s best hospital for “quality of care” by a health website.

A COUPLE who cited the right to life of the unborn amendment to the constitution as grounds for suing for damages for wrongful death of their stillborn baby settled their case yesterday.

ONE of the country’s busiest cancer units is to plead for the chance to stay open despite not being named as one of the eight big cancer centres where all patients must be treated within two years.

WORK is due to start early next year on a €10.5 million expansion of the emergency department at Waterford Regional Hospital.

IRELAND’S cleanest acute hospital is Mallow General Hospital in Cork, according to 8,000 patients and relatives who took part in an online survey of the country’s public hospitals.

CONTRACTS for Health Minister Mary Harney’s contentious private hospital plan could be signed in April, just a matter of weeks before the general election.

Sinn Féin activists are to protest at 11 hospitals today against government plans to allow private health centres to be built on the same sites as public units.

TÁNAISTE Mary Harney’s controversial plan for new private hospitals, on existing hospital lands, took a step closer at the weekend with the Health Service Executive (HSE) issuing tender notices for the construction of 11 such facilities.

KILKENNY'S All-Star hurler Henry Shefflin has undergone a minor operation on an eye injury sustained during Saturday's hurling qualifier victory over Clare.

A campaign has kicked off to introduce greater safety regulations for the sport of hurling.

HOSPITALS found guilty of bad management and keeping patients in beds too long have been hit with fines totalling €6.4 million.

The Minister for Health Micheal Martin says he will not intervene in the Junior Doctors dispute.

All non-emergency services at Waterford Regional hospital will be cancelled from tomorrow due to a dispute by junior doctors over working hours.