THE Head of the HSE, Professor Brendan Drumm has suggested that his organisation would benefit from an external review of its performance since its inception in 2005.

PATIENT representatives have called on the chairman of Tallaght Hospital to resign and its chief executive to step aside.

PATIENT groups at Tallaght Hospital said people are “extremely worried” about the quality of care there after the Health Service Executive confirmed that 3,500 referral letters from GPs were not opened by consultants, on top of the 58,000 X-rays that had not been read by radiologists.

SUCCESSFUL organisations invariably have a culture of excellence; an instinctive code of conduct and expectation that informs and drives everything they do. Second best is never good enough, it is not an option. It is not even considered.

Embattled Health Minister Mary Harney, who is in the middle of a St Patrick’s Day mission to New Zealand, has said that Tallaght Hospital chiefs gave her assurances no letters remain unopened.

ACCESSING radiology services is proving increasingly difficult for family doctors, forcing some public patients to wait up to eight weeks for a simple bone X-ray, a new study has found.

A Trinity College professor has called for more cash and resources to combat premature death and fatal accidents in poor and rural areas in Ireland.