Public patients are being forced to wait up to two years for potentially life- saving diagnostic scans, despite international best practice saying they should be seen within six weeks.

PUBLIC hospitals are owed almost €200 million in unpaid private patient charges, inpatient levies and other costs over the past year as a direct result of insurance coverage delays.

A teenager is in a critical condition after a serious assault in Limerick last night.

MORE than 1,300 women with suspected breast cancer were not referred to the appropriate specialist service within the recommended two-week timeframe set down by the independent health watchdog.

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